Consequences
by Sanishou
Summary: Actions in life always have consequences, good or bad. But, what if those consequences shaped Itachi's life in a different way? How Itachi Uchiha became who he is today, including someone he met on the way. ItachixOC. Contains strong themes. Somewhat AU.
1. In The Beginning

**Hello, Sanishou here! I give you my first story. All revamped too.**

**This idea just came to me one day and it flowed from there. I hope you enjoy it!**

"Blah" - Talking

'Blah - Thinking

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of its Characters, just my OC, Sanishu Ukishira, and some minor ones like her parents.

* * *

"I'm going out, Makoshi, need anything?" Koto Ukishira calls into the house where his wife is making dinner, while their two year old daughter is sitting on the floor, playing with the leader of his pack of summon hounds, who is persuading more belly rubs from the small girl. Makoshi wipes her hands on her apron and smiles,

"Iie, not right now, stay out of trouble though." She teases, giving him a kiss as he heads out of the house. Koto smiles as he heads off, needing to report to the Hokage about a mission he is to be going on in a few days. Koto is one of the top Anbu captains, and worked with Fugaku Uchiha of the Konoha Police force a few times too, but that was years ago. The Ukishira clan is mostly hidden from the village in a private district, preferring to keep to themselves.

Back in the district, Sani giggles as the little pug leans up and licks her cheek, then stretches out on his back, prompting yet another belly rub. Makoshi laughs and shakes her head, going about dinner, humming as she does. She finishes setting everything to cook and sets a timer, and then she takes Sani and the dog outside, settling into a deck chair to watch her daughter play on the grass.

Meanwhile, outside the compound, a man with long, black hair and pale skin watches from the trees as the clan head takes off, then back into the district where his wife has now joined their daughter on the grass, petting the small dog. He laughs softly to himself, a soft, almost hiss of a laugh escaping his lips as he watches them.

"You're all mine." He says softly, licking his lips in almost greedy anticipation. Several men, all dressed in dark colors, wait amongst the trees for his signal, while his golden eyes continue to watch, waiting.

* * *

"Lord Hokage" Koto greets, bowing in respect to the older man, and Sarutobi nods and smiles, his wizened eyes crinkling a bit as he does. He smiles and sits down,

"How are Lady Makoshi and little Sani?" he asks, and Koto smiles,

"Very well, arigatou. You wanted to see me?" and the Hokage nods, sighing a bit. He shuffles some papers on his desk, then says,

"Orochimaru has been spotted again, he was seen a ways outside the Uchiha compound." And Koto frowns,

"Still wants the Sharingan, does he?" and Sarutobi nods,

"Hai, we fear so, and we also fear what he might do if he finds out the true Kekkei Genkai of your clan, Koto." Koto frowns, sighing a bit.

"Not as long as I'm alive!" he says vehemently, eyes narrowing. Sarutobi nods, knowing that if Orochimaru got his hands on this bloodline limit as well, they could be lost. Koto rubs his hand through his hair a bit in frustration, they've been tracking the snake Sannin for a while, but he always manages to elude them. Sarutobi makes some tea, coming back to the table and puts a tray down, setting a cup in front of Koto, and another in front of himself, and they relax into silence a moment, then begin to discuss the mission. Orochimaru hasn't officially left Konoha, but they suspect he's been performing illegal and unethical experiments on people of all status and age, both ninja and civilian. He has also submitted his name as a candidate for the Fourth Hokage position, but most of the ANBU know that Sarutobi already has someone in mind.

As the meeting progresses, they map out several details for the missing, determining who and what would be best to accomplish it. Koto suggests some of the shinobi he feels would be best for the mission, and Sarutobi nods, agreeing. After talking some more, the meeting winds up a bit, both men putting papers away, Koto tucking a couple files into his carry case, and then he stands up, bowing to the Hokage and shaking his hand, and then heading out.

* * *

Makoshi stands up from the grass and dusts off her yukata, making sure Sani is still in sight of the door, and heads inside to check on the supper. The little dog has since left, so Sani is now playing with a kunoichi doll her father brought her home from the Land of Wind one mission a few months ago. Makoshi looks up from scooping some noodles from a pot into bowls, hearing a clang of weapons, and she looks out the window, wondering if cousins or other family are off sparring in the training grounds. She shrugs and resumes scooping the noodles from the broth in the pot, settling them into bowls of soup, when suddenly a hand is clapped over her mouth, and a soft, hissing laugh sounds in her ear. Her eyes widen, and immediately dart to her small daughter, now being held by a man with white hair, crying and trying to wriggle free, but then she freezes when a cold kunai is placed to her throat.

"K-kaa-san..." she sniffles, watery green eyes fixed on her mother. Makoshi struggles against her captor, but then freezes when he hisses,

"Enough or the girl dies!" Makoshi looks around frantically

'_Koto where are you..?' _she wonders, not wanting to have her daughter harmed. A pale hand moves to cover her mouth, nails painted a creepy purplish black.

Koto curses himself, running at his fastest shinobi speed through the trees, a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something is very wrong at the district, nagging at his gut. Eyes bleeding a vivid red, he races into the district, dashing down streets, and is horrified to see members of his family sprawled on the ground, some impaled by shuriken and kunai, and others that have been strangled by large, white snakes. Koto pales, fear building in his stomach, and he comes to a sudden halt. His daughter is in the hands of a white haired man, and none other than the snake sannin has a hold of his wife, the grass long sword protruding from her chest. He yanks the sword back and drops the woman to the ground, and the other man drops Sani as well. As Sani lands, she turns over and crawls to her mother, shaking her shoulder.

"K-kaa-san!" she cries, "w-wake u-up kaa-san!" but gets nothing. She looks away from the silent woman, the tears now streaming down her cheeks, and she starts to walk, dazed and afraid, not knowing where she's even going.

Koto yells in rage, racing toward the sannin, when the white haired man turns, shoving a blue glowing hand through his chest.

_'K-kuso, t-that was a c-chakra scalpel.'_ He realizes, gasping as he coughs up a large amount of blood onto the dusty ground. The man drops him, neither noticing the small girl as she now comes closer, and as she turns, sniffling and crying, a hand grabs her ankle weakly. Startled, she turns with a gasp, starting to cry again when she sees who it is.

"Tou-san!" she says, but she's afraid of all the blood covering him. He coughs again, and then manages to say in a choked voice,

"I-I'll get... Y-you away... B-but h-here, take t-this." He gives her a small, bound scroll of pale parchment. She nods, crying and wiping her eyes. He whispers,

"A-aishiteru yo… my d-daughter…" she starts crying more, screaming and begging for him not to leave her, and he does some quick hand signs, and sends his small daughter miles away to safety. He then coughs once more, spitting out some blood, then manages a weak summoning jutsu, and says with his final, gasping breath,

"P-Pakkun… p-protect my... d-daughter…" the little dog looks sadly at his dead master, and then disappears, tracking the little girl. It takes him several hours to find her, crying in the woods, curled up under a tree and covered in blood and dirt. One of the other, larger dogs is with him now. He says,

"Sanishu?" the girl looks up, frightened, and then relaxes when she recognizes her father's hounds.

"P-Pakkun? S-scawed…" She sniffles, and the little dog lies down on her lap, his warm little body comforting her. She pulls out the scroll her father gave her, slowly opening it while being watched by Pakkun.

"That's our summoning contract; you'll know what to do with it when the time is right." She nods, but she's not sure if she understands. Sensing her tiredness, the two dogs lay close to her to keep her warm.

While back in the district the pale man curses when he can't find her at all, and he and his man disappear, leaving the district silent, eerie and bloodstained.

* * *

Meanwhile, later that day, a man and a young boy are walking through a field. The man is teaching the boy about chakra, and how to control it. He stops at a tree, where he focuses chakra into his feet. Then, telling his son to watch, he walks right up the side of the tree. The boy's eyes go wide.

"This, son, is focusing chakra." He says as the boy watches him intently.

"Me do it?" he asks excitedly, and Fugaku Uchiha chuckles as he walks back down the tree.

"You can try if you like Itachi." Itachi grins, holding his hands the way his father shows him, and closing his eyes, concentrating. Fugaku senses the chakra surge at his son's feet, and with his father close, Itachi makes eight steps up the tree, to the surprise of his father. Soon after, they're walking through the woods, heading home, Itachi sitting atop his father's shoulders, tiredness getting him out of walking.

"Tou-san look there!" Itachi suddenly shouts, pointing down the path. Fugaku lets Itachi down, eyes widening. A ways down the path is a little girl, nothing more than a small toddler. She's covered in blood and crying, wandering aimlessly. Itachi hesitates, and then runs right over to her. Fugaku frowns, following his young son over to the girl. As he scoops up both Itachi and her, he doesn't notice a small ninja dog with a scroll in its mouth, disappear as he turns to hurry back home.

Mikoto Uchiha hurries out of the house as she sees her husband coming. She frowns when she sees the girl.

"Mikoto, take care of her, I need to alert the Hokage." She nods, taking the girl and going inside, Itachi following her. Fugaku immediately heads into the village to speak to the Hokage. Mikoto runs a tub of warm water, and then she gently undresses the girl, who appears no more than two. As she does, she notices a fine silver chain around her neck, and on it is a pendant of the fan that symbolizes the clan of Ukishira, the hidden clan of Konoha. She carefully bathes the girl, gently scrubbing all the blood and dirt from her skin and long black hair. Itachi waits, he's curious about the girl.

"Kaa-san, she okay?" he asks, and Mikoto says softly,

"Well, she has no injuries; she just appears to be in shock." Three year old Itachi frowns,

"What's shock?" his mother explains softly,

"It's when someone sees something, something that scares them so badly that they can't handle it, then, they kind of shut down inside of themselves." Itachi nods, pretty sure he understands.

A couple of hours later, Fugaku arrives back home. Mikoto looks up from the mat where both kids are asleep. Fugaku sits down beside her, watching them. The girl has taken hold of Itachi's hand in her sleep. Fugaku sighs, then says softly,

"Black Ops has trackers on her trail, they'll find where she came from." Mikoto says,

"Fugaku, she's of the Ukishira clan." And his eyes go wide; this girl is from the hidden clan? She shows him the pendant around the sleeping girl's neck, and Fugaku lets a sigh escape his lips. Ukishira are as powerful and prominent as the Uchiha.

* * *

A couple of days later, Itachi is eating his lunch, and watching as Mikoto gently feeds Sani her lunch too, gently massaging down the girl's throat to encourage her to swallow each bite, the girl's body obeying the touches willingly. Sani herself is gazing out the window, green eyes on the sky it seems, but even though he wonders, Itachi doesn't know if she's actually seeing any of the clouds or birds or anything out there. He eats another bite of rice, noticing his mother pause to eat some of her own meal, before continuing to feed Sani some more.

"Konichiha Fugaku-san, Is anyone home?" a voice calls from outside a bit later as Mikoto is washing up the dishes, the two kids now in the living room. Itachi gets up to go and see, his father is out on the porch reading some files for Sani's case, or he had been, but now he's got them on his lap, talking to the young woman standing at the porch steps, who Itachi realizes is Sani's medic. Lord Hokage has a medic come to check on Sani both morning and night, to make sure she's doing as well as possible. Mikoto comes over as well, pulling open the Shoji doors as Itachi heads back into the living room where Sani is still sitting on the couch.

"Sani," he says, taking her hand "Kio-san is here." He tells her, hoping she might recognize or respond to the name of her medic, but she continues to gaze out at the sky. Itachi sighs some and chews his lip, wishing his new friend would talk to him, that she wouldn't be so scared and so quiet and lost. Kio and Mikoto soon come in, and Itachi watches them, not moving from Sani's side. Kio smiles softly,

"How are you Itachi-san?" she asks, and Itachi nods a little.

"Okay. Want Sani better though." He says, and Kio nods, ruffling his hair.

"Hai, we all do, that's what we're working toward." Mikoto sits down, starting to tell about how Sani had more nightmares last night and had to have her sleep chakra induced. Kio frowns,

"I'd like you to try something tonight. Do you have a blanket of hers or a sweater or something that carries a scent familiar to her?" and Mikoto thinks a moment, and then nods.

"Hai, she has a blanket from her bed I believe that her mother always wrapped her in when she went to bed. I was going to wash it, but I haven't yet." Kio nods,

"Alright, don't wash it yet, wrap it around her if she has nightmares again tonight, and the feel and smell of it might calm her, she needs some familiar things she knows to help make her feel safe enough again." Mikoto nods, and Fugaku, who had come in, says,

"If you leave me a list, I will return to her clan's compound tonight and try to find some more of these things." Mikoto and Kio nod, and Fugaku does too, giving Mikoto a kiss, ruffling Itachi's hair and then heading from the room again. Mikoto wraps an arm around Itachi, they watch curiously as Kio checks Sani's vitals, and also makes sure her pupils react to light and everything that should be normal.

"She's fine physically. All we have to is try and help her mind overcome the trauma that she's seen or heard to cause her condition." Kio says softly, sitting down as well. Itachi asks,

"Will she get better?" and Kio nods,

"Hai, she will with our help, we just don't know how long it's going to take. Hopefully not very, because the longer she remains this way, the harder it is for her to come out of it." Mikoto lets a gasp escape her lips.

"So there's a chance… she might never come out of this?" And Kio chews her lip, nodding,

"Hai, but it's very, very slim, so let's try not to focus on that, alright?" and Mikoto and Itachi nod, Itachi curling up beside Sani, tugging his blanket around the two of them. Mikoto and Kio soon head into the kitchen to talk over some tea, while Itachi stays with Sani, rubbing her side a bit as she still gazes outside.

That night at bedtime, Itachi follows his mother to Sani's room after she gets him ready for bed, he's taken to staying with her, and any time something happens he runs to get Mikoto so she can help. He crawls onto the bed to wait while Mikoto gives her a bath and gets her ready, and she then brings her in, settling her into bed and using very light chakra to calm her until she falls asleep, but not inducing sleep by force. She also makes sure the blanket is sitting on the dresser in easy reach. She kisses Itachi goodnight, then blows out the lamp, heading from the room as he curls up beside Sani under the blankets, watching her until he falls asleep.

_"Noo!"_ A terrified scream wakes him a few hours later and he bolts up, wide eyed. Sani is thrashing in her sleep, tears running down her cheeks as she screams and cries. Itachi jumps up, pulling the blanket from the dresser and tucking it around Sani, and then running to get Mikoto. Itachi slips into his parents' room, gently shaking Mikoto.

"Kaa-san, it's happening again." He says when she lifts her head. She nods and gets up, she and Itachi hurrying back to Sani's room. When they come in, they notice Sani has burrowed under the blanket, and though she's still crying in her sleep, she is no longer screaming out or thrashing. Mikoto smiles a little,

"Arigatou my son, that was some very quick thinking with the blanket." Itachi nods, climbing back up onto the bed and sitting beside Sani, touching her shoulder. Mikoto checks her as well too, and she and Itachi stay with Sani while she slowly calms down, her body relaxing, and her small hands pulling the blanket tighter around herself.

"She remembers blanket?" Itachi asks, and Mikoto nods and smiles,

"Hai, I believe she does, she's calming down without me having to put her to sleep." Itachi nods too, happy that Sani's doing even a little bit better.

Itachi soon curls back up beside her as Mikoto fixes their blankets, kissing their foreheads and heading from the room, blowing out the lamp again on her way.

Over the next few days it continues about the same, Itachi spends the days with Sani, talking to her and leading her around outside to keep her moving, while Mikoto makes sure she eats and drinks, and at night the blanket is helping, Sani still has nightmares, but now not only are they less severe, she's calming down much quicker from them too.

Itachi smiles as he leads Sani through a trail near the house, his older cousin Obito is trailing behind them with a friend of his to make sure they stay safe, and to be there if anything should happen. Itachi smiles and points out different things, and he gasps as when he points out a raven, Sani actually turns her head to look at the bird he's pointing at, and then she also turns to look at him, though her gaze is still a bit unfocused. Itachi smiles and squeezes her hand.

"Sani!" he says happily "you looked at me." She continues to gaze at him, and he sees just a flicker in her green eyes. He smiles and takes her hand again, continuing to walk with her for a while, and as they walk she does look where he points a few more times, and looks at him a few more times as well. He smiles each time she does, feeling more and more encouraged by her progress so far. As they head back, a loud thunderclap sounds, making both kids jump, and Sani actually squeezes Itachi's hand, startling him a bit. He smiles and wraps his arm around her as they walk, hoping to get back before it rains. Obito and his friend, a boy with silver hair and dark grey eyes soon catch up to them as it starts to drizzle, and they pick the kids up, heading for the compound using shinobi speed, trying to beat the heavy rain, and as they make it to the house, it starts to pour right as they step under the porch roof. Itachi nods his thanks to Obito and his friend, and they nod and head off to Obito's place not far away. In the house, Mikoto looks up when Itachi and Sani come in, and smiles at them.

"Kaa-san, she answered me! She looked where I was pointing and she looked at me, and then she even squeezed my hand!" Itachi says happily, and Mikoto smiles.

"I'm very happy to hear that, it means she's coming back to us." Itachi grins and nods; still holding onto Sani's hand as he leads her over to the couch, sitting with her.

When Kio arrives later on, she smiles when she sees Sani turning to look at people who talk to her, and squeezing their hands as well, though she doesn't yet speak, and doesn't answer every single thing.

"I am very pleased with her progress." She says, checking Sani's vitals, as per usual. Mikoto and Itachi both smile, watching as Sani turns her head to look at Kio, recognizing her voice as well now. Kio smiles and ruffles her hair.

"I'm very proud of you Sani, keep working hard, alright?" she says, and takes the little girl's hand and Sani squeezes her hand back. Itachi grins too, still holding Sani's other hand. She even watches Kio as she gets her stuff together and heads into the kitchen, where she has tea with Mikoto so they can talk before Kio leaves. Fugaku comes into the kitchen as they talk, he yawns a bit, having spent all day at the Ukishira compound with some of his police force, and some of the Hokage's ANBU as well. Mikoto smiles,

"Hey Dear, Sani's starting to respond to us. She started responding to Itachi first while they were out walking." Fugaku's eyes widen and then he smiles,

"That's great news. I'm glad." He says, sitting down at the table with the two women, and then pouring himself a cup of tea, sipping it. Kio says softly,

"There is something you must be aware of as she recovers, because of how young Sani is, as her mind recovers, it may repress the traumatic memories that caused her condition, so do not be alarmed if once she's recovered, she does not remember much of what happened to her, and also, do not pressure her to remember, we don't want to send her into another episode like this." Mikoto and Fugaku nod, agreeing with her.

* * *

A couple more days go by, Sani continuing to respond when people talk to her, and she now looks at them every time someone comes near her as well. She's currently watching Itachi as he sits on the floor, practicing some hand signs his father showed him last night. She tilts her head slightly as she watches, then suddenly she says,

"T-Tachi…" her voice is soft from disuse. The young Uchiha startles and gasps, stopping and looking at her.

"Sani, say my name?" he asks her, and she watches him a moment, then says softly again,

"Tachi." And he grins, hugging her gently, and she doesn't tense like she did before, now she actually leans into him a little.

She looks around the room, much more recognition and life in her eyes as she does, though she does seem a bit confused, not sure of where she is. Mikoto soon comes back from the grocery store, greeting Obito in the kitchen, who was babysitting, and then she comes into the living room to check on the kids.

"That's my Kaa-san." Itachi tells Sani, squeezing her hand a bit, and Sani looks over at the new woman, well new to her now that she's recognizing things, and says,

"K-Kaa-san?" Mikoto gasps, her eyes widening. She comes over and kneels down in front of the couch, taking Sani's other hand. Itachi smiles,

"She said my name too." Mikoto smiles, kissing Sani's forehead,

"That's wonderful Sani, we're so proud of you dear." Sani looks up at her, still feeling a little confused, but something tells her not to be afraid of these people, that she's safe with them around her.

"Home?" Sani then asks softly, looking around again, and Mikoto chews her lip, saying,

"This is your home now; your parents had to… go away for a while." Sani frowns, but she nods eventually, and Mikoto sighs a bit, hating to lie to the child, but not wanting to scare her back into shock by telling her that her parents and entire clan are dead. Itachi settles beside her as well, and soon Fugaku also arrives home, and he too is happy too see her progress. When she sees Mikoto approach with dinner, she looks a little nervous, but still holds onto Itachi's hand as he eats his, and Mikoto says softly,

"It's alright Sani, if you can't swallow by yourself I'll help you." Sani nods, relaxing a bit as she giving Itachi's hand another squeeze. Kio arrives too, and she smiles as well, deciding to watch and see how Sani handles eating. Mikoto gives her a spoonful, which she takes willingly, and she coughs a little, but manages to swallow it okay. Mikoto ends up having to help her with a few bites, but Sani swallows most of it on her own now. Kio smiles,

"Wow Sani, you are doing so well!" and Sani looks up at her.

"You Kio?" she asks, and the young medic nods and smiles, ruffling her hair.

"Hai, that I am." She says, checking her over quickly.

When she finishes she ruffles Sani's hair again, and then follows Mikoto and Fugaku into the kitchen, sitting at the table with them and waiting while Mikoto pours some tea.

"She is making amazing progress, I would say a few more days and she should be just about back to normal." Kio says, sipping her tea. Mikoto and Fugaku both nod.

"That will be a relief," Fugaku says softly, "her condition was not only worrying us, but it was also scaring Itachi as well. He really likes her." Kio smiles and nods,

"Hai, I can see that he does, he seems very much attached to her." Mikoto nods as well, and the three of them continue to talk for a while. In the living room Itachi is trying to encourage Sani to talk some as well.

Over the next few days Sani continues to progress well. She now responds when talked to or touched, she follows people with her eyes, and is pretty much talking and acting like a normal two year old. Although, as Kio feared, her mind has in fact repressed almost all her memories of the day she was found, which is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in the sense that she is doing so well, and a curse in the sense someone has to tell her again later on. She's now been with the Uchiha clan for two weeks, and like Itachi is to her, she is growing rather attached to him as well. They love to play together, and Sani often follows Itachi around with a happy smile, feeling loved and safe here with him and his family.

Outside though, no one has been caught yet for the deaths of her entire clan, Fugaku and his police force and the Hokage's ANBU continue to investigate, but so far all of their leads and clues have come up dry, which is frustrating everyone.

* * *

"Did you find anything?" Mikoto asks when Fugaku comes in one night, after he had spent the entire day combing the Ukishira compound for clues. He shakes his head as he takes off his flak vest and tosses it on a chair. He says,

"Nothing, I don't know if we'll ever figure out what really happened there." With a tired sigh, he changes into his sleep kimono, and then sits on the bed. Mikoto nods and sits at his side, placing a hand on his arm.

"At least she's safe; we'll make sure of that." She says, and Fugaku nods as they get into bed, settling down for the night, minds on the little girl who now resides within their home.

Fugaku and his wife decide to adopt her into their home, as she's brought new life into the house, and besides that, they would never head the end of it from Itachi, as he's taken quite a liking to his new "sister". She has proved to be very curious and quite bright for her age, just like Itachi. She has also taken to following him and his father constantly to the Uchiha training grounds. She loves to watch the both of them training.

* * *

**Well, there's my first redone chapter. Hope you liked it. Please review and tell me what you think, reviews are the fuel! lol.**

**Sanishou.**


	2. Tragedies, a Trip & an Act of Kindness

**Here is the completely redone and expanded Chapter 2. The chapters that follow will also be redone and expanded, and I might very likely end up with more than the original 7 by the time I finish the rewriting. I would also like to thank those who have reviewed this story, it really helps encourage me and I love seeing the feedback. :)**

**Hope you enjoy the new chapter! :)**

"Blah" - Talking

'Blah' - Thinking

**Disclaimer: **Same old, don't own. Though I wish I did! Lol especially Itachi! :P

* * *

Sani stretches as she sits on the grass one day, watching Itachi as he's learning from his father how to hold and throw shurikens. Fugaku sees her watching as they practice, so he waves her over. She grins and hurries across the field to where they are. Fugaku takes a pouch off the ground, and pulls a few child size shurikens out, giving one to Sani. She curiously turns it over in her small hands, thoroughly examining it. He then leads her to a target nearby the one Itachi is practicing on. Fugaku shows her how to hold the throwing star, and then how to flick her wrist to throw it. She watches as Itachi throws a few, and then she throws her first one. Fugaku chuckles as it hits so close to the top of the log target that it almost sails right over it. She pouts a bit, then grins and picks up another one, determined. He's also impressed that she did hit the target on her first try as well; Itachi is also doing very well, getting the hang of it quickly.

"Don't get over enthusiastic." He warns, and the kids nod. After a while of throwing the metal stars, Mikoto brings out a tray of iced tea and sandwiches over to Itachi and Sani, setting it on the grass for them. They both thank her and begin to eat, talking happily about what they're learning and the progress they've made today. Fugaku and Mikoto smile as they sit on the deck not far away, eating their own lunch as they watch the two kids. When they finish, they pick up some more shuriken and return to the targets, totally into the training.

That night, Itachi and Sani are playing on the floor while their parents have tea and talk with the head of one of Konoha's other prominent clans, the Hyuga. Sani laughs as she and Itachi keep busy with some origami shuriken that Mikoto had made for them. She giggles as Itachi tries to aim one at the window, and instead it lands, wedged in a potted plant.

"Why don't you kids head on outside for a while?" Mikoto says, and they nod and get up, pulling on their sandals and heading outside. The two of them head out toward the back side of the district, playing near the border by the woods, just keeping to themselves as they play a quiet ninja game, having fun, when a group of older boys come out of the trees; they look around seven or eight, and they're from the clan as well, but from lesser families.

A secret Itachi will grow up to never tell anyone, he was a victim of bullying.

They try to keep playing their game and ignore the boys, but soon they start picking on Itachi. Pushing him around and calling him names. Sani frowns,

"Leave him alone!" she shouts at them as best she can, but being so small they pretty much ignore her, and don't leave him alone. They start worse name calling, and shoving Itachi harder, down onto the ground, kicking at him. Itachi's eyes fill with tears, and he runs off, and after glaring at the boys as best she can, Sani runs after him. Even though she's only two years old, she understands that her friend, her brother is hurting, and that he needs someone to help him. She finds him hiding behind the house, sitting on the grass with his knees pulled to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, crying into them. Sani makes her way over, wrapping her small arms around her crying friend and hugging him. Itachi lays his head on her shoulder, sniffling and curling up. When Itachi's able to calm down they both head back to the house, Itachi leading Sani by the hand.

* * *

Over the next several months, and Sani and Itachi have had their third and fourth birthdays consecutively. They have also gotten much closer, and they do everything together, train, and play, whatever it may be. Fugaku has also started training her regularly along with Itachi; he's seen the same potential in her as in his son.

Also, a young Chunin, an exceptionally skilled silver haired boy, soon to take his Jonin exams, is best friends with Itachi's older cousin, Obito, and is also on a team with him, so he's at the compound a lot, and has taken a liking to Sani and Itachi. Sani and Itachi are currently out playing when something wet nudges Sani's arm, and she startles.

"Pakkun!" she says happily, hugging the little dog, who yips and starts licking her face. Itachi watches her, interested. Sani says,

"'Tachi dis Pakkun, he one of Tou-san's hounds." Her look saddens, and Itachi frowns. Pakkun whines and nudges her arm, saying,

"I just came to see how you're doing. Do you like it here?" Sani nods, smiling as Itachi takes her hand. Obito and Kakashi soon come jogging over, and she frowns when she sees how Pakkun is staring at the silver haired boy.

"You look just like… the White Fang…" Pakkun says suddenly, making the boy skid to a stop.

"He was my father." He says quietly. Sani asks Pakkun,

"You know him?" and the little dog nods, saying,

"He gave our contract to your father when he was married." She nods, pretty sure she gets it. Kakashi crouches down, reaching out and scratching Pakkun behind the ears. Sani and Itachi laugh as Pakkun actually rolls onto his back, encouraging more attention. Kakashi laughs too, obliging, and Obito crouches down too, scratching him as well. Though, after a while, Obito stands up, and says,

"Alright Kakashi, we need to go and meet sensei. You know how the Yellow Flash gets when we're late!" The silver haired boy chuckles and nods as he stands up, and he and Obito head off after promising to visit often. Itachi and Sani wander over to Itachi's other aunt's house, deciding to see if Shisui wants to come out and play. Pakkun had left right after Kakashi and Obito did. Shisui's mother says he can, so Sani hangs onto Itachi's hand as they quickly cross the compound's main street. The three of them then go to the lake; Shisui's Kaa-san coming along to supervise them.

* * *

Around a week later or so, Rin, Kakashi and Obito's good friend and medic teammate, comes running down the compound's road, obviously in a hurry, looking upset, and she's crying. She goes to Obito's parents' house and goes inside for a few moments, and then the three of them all run off, both women crying as they run. That night when Fugaku returns from a meeting with the Hokage, and the head Uchiha elder, he looks upset, and sits everyone down around the kitchen table.

"I have grave news." He says quietly. Mikoto frowns, taking his hand, but Sani and Itachi are both confused, looking at each other, then back at Fugaku. He then says,

"Obito's squad was attacked, Kakashi and Rin made it back okay, though wounded themselves too, but Obito…" he trails off, and Mikoto starts to cry, covering her face with her hands and leaning against Fugaku. Sani doesn't know Obito all that well, but Itachi runs to his room. Sani starts to follow, but pauses outside the kitchen door, listening to Fugaku.

"Hatake was injured protecting Obito from an attack, and then another Rock Nin attempted to crush Rin with an earth jutsu, but Obito pushed her out of the way, falling under a landslide of boulders himself, resulting in his entire right side being totally crushed, a fatal injury. But Obito, the thoughtful boy he was, could only think of the others. Kakashi and Rin told the Hokage what happened when they and their sensei made it back." Mikoto gasps, her eyes wide and tear filled, and he continues,

"There's more. Kakashi lost an eye in the attack while defending Obito, and as his dying gift, Obito gave him his left Sharingan eye. He's still recovering, but he needs to be taught how to use that eye, for which I plan to have an Uchiha instruct him." Mikoto nods quietly. Sani hurries to Itachi's room, as she goes to pull open the shoji, (a/n: sliding paper screen doors. I was told this is the word, if I am wrong please let me know, thanks) she hears crying inside. She goes in, pulling the door closed again, and climbs up on the bed, where Itachi curls up beside her under the blankets, comforted by her presence. She stays snuggled close to him as they both fall asleep.

The next day is the funeral, so they have to dress in formal black yukatas. Mikoto is quiet as she gets Sani and Itachi dressed in their yukatas, both kids unusually quiet. Once they're all ready, they follow Fugaku out to the courtyard where the funeral is to take place. Once in the courtyard, Kakashi ends up standing beside Sani and Itachi, his head bowed a bit, and they notice that he now wears his Hitai-ate (a/n: headband) skewed to cover his healing left eye. Sani notices how sad he looks and reaches over, taking his hand. He startles, and then relaxes, squeezing her hand, his other coming to rest on top of Itachi's head. After the funeral service, burial and several prayers they head inside, and in the kitchen, Kakashi says to Fugaku,

"Fugaku-san, I know the clan will now gather to mourn privately, would you like me to look after Sanishu for the night?" Fugaku considers it a few moments, and then he nods.

"I would appreciate it, the Uchiha need to be together." Kakashi nods, and lifts Sani up. Mikoto hands him a bag she had just gone to quickly pack for her, along with a stuffed rabbit. As they leave, Kakashi notices Itachi's downcast expression, Sani does too, chewing her lip sadly, and Kakashi ruffles the boy's hair,

"I'll bring her back tomorrow Itachi, don't worry." Itachi pouts a bit, sighing, but he nods a bit. Then they head out, Sani looking around as they make their way through Konoha to where Kakashi's apartment is. Pakkun appears in the apartment right after Kakashi gets there with Sani. Pakkun sits with her on the floor, nuzzling her arm, and Kakashi lies down on his bed, curling onto his side and sighing. Sani starts playing with the little dog on the floor, but soon she hears soft crying, and she goes over to Kakashi. She climbs onto the bed; she's surprised to see the young Jonin crying, curled in a ball on his side. Pakkun looks concerned too. Sani whispers to him,

"You need find Rin." And he gives a nod and disappears with a soft 'poof'. Unsure, Sani climbs onto the bed and takes hold of Kakashi's hand, not really knowing how to make him feel better, but wanting to try. He squeezes her hand some, seemingly grateful she's there. Sani stays with him like that, watching out the window as she waits for Pakkun to bring Rin. A bit later Rin arrives, with Pakkun right behind on her heels. Her eyes widen with worry when she sees the jonin on the bed.

"Oh Kakashi, I'm here now." She says softly, hurrying over and pulling him into a hug, settling against the wall with the jonin lying against her as she tucks the blanket around him. Pakkun and Sani watch as she comforts Kakashi, shocked at the amount of grief pouring out from the young man. When he finally calms down, he drifts into a restless sleep, and she gently lays him down, pulling the blankets back over him, then she turns to Sani.

"Hungry?" she asks and Sani nods, holding out her arms, and Rin smiles and picks her up, taking her to the kitchen where she sits Sani on a chair. She then starts rummaging in the fridge, pulling out a few things. She ends up making some miso soup and some fried pork and rice. They also had noticed that Pakkun has left as well. Rin puts a plate away for Kakashi, and then she sits at the table with Sani, helping her some as they eat, the both of them laughing as Sani tries to get the hang of the slippery ivory chopsticks.

When Kakashi wakes up later on, Rin and Sani both move over to the bed to sit with him, and he wraps his blankets around the three of them, hugging them. Later on, Rin puts Sani to bed, tucking her into the blankets on the spare sleeping mat near Kakashi's. Sani ends up falling asleep fairly fast, tired out from the day. Rin also decides to spend the night, incase Kakashi needs her, and sets herself up a bed beside Sani's so she can be close to Kakashi as well.

The next morning, Sani sits up in bed, looking around, and then remembering that she is at Kakashi's, and relaxing again. Rin is sleeping beside her, and Kakashi is curled on his side in bed. Rin wakes up, sensing the little girl awake and watching her. She smiles and picks Sani up, tickling her as she takes her to the bathroom to get her washed and dressed. Sani lets out a few giggles as Rin tickles her, and their laughter ends up waking Kakashi. When Rin has Sani cleaned and dressed, they come back to the living room, and she sets her beside Kakashi on the bed. Sani crawls back over, curling up beside the young jonin.

"'Kashi?" she says softly, not quite able to say the full name, and he looks at her sadly. She says softly, suddenly knowing what to do.

"I want give you somefing." He gives her a confused look, and then Pakkun appears, sitting beside Sani with a small scroll in his mouth. Kakashi's eyes widen, and he carefully takes the scroll, opening it.

"It's our summoning contract." Pakkun says, watching Kakashi. He says,

"Does she really understand what she's doing?" Sani nods at Pakkun, and he says,

"I believe so; it's in her blood to know what to do with the contract when the time is right. As you see, her name is on the contract, placed by her father at her birth." Kakashi nods. He then bites his thumb to make a cut, and signs his name on the contract right below Sani's. Pakkun says,

"I can be summoned alone, but there are also seven other hounds as well, and the jutsu is called 'Earth Style: Fanged Pursuit'. We can track just about anything or anyone, and the seven others can also fight. These here are the hand signs." He proceeds to list them, and as he does, Kakashi makes each sign, and Sani copies each one. She grins as the other hounds appear with the summons.

"Everyone, this Kashi, he sign the scroll." The hounds all look at Kakashi, watching him curiously, then each one going over to meet him and learn his scent one at a time, then they return to sit near Pakkun. Sani starts scratching Pakkun's ears as he lies on her lap. The other hounds leave after showing they each accept Kakashi on their contract. Rin also soon heads home, but before she does, she takes Sani into the kitchen with her and says softly,

"Sani, do you think you can do something?" Sani's confused, chewing her lip, but she nods, since she understands the question. Rin says,

"If you see Kakashi getting sad again, can you do me a favor, and give him a hug for me?" Sani nods and Rin ruffles her hair before heading out. Sani climbs back onto the bed, where Kakashi is laying on his side, facing the wall. With a soft sigh, he turns his eye to her, and it makes her sad to see him sad. Sani yawns, and then lies down, snuggling down into Kakashi's chest, and he wraps an arm around her. The two of them end up laying there on the bed for a while, just napping off and on. And as Rin asked her, whenever she sees Kakashi looking sad again, she gives him another hug, which seems to cheer him up some.

That night, after Kakashi and Sani have had supper and Sani a bath and changed into her pajamas, Fugaku arrives to pick Sani up. When Kakashi lets him into the quiet apartment Sani's asleep on the bed, wrapped up in a purple blanket, her stuffed bunny tucked under one small arm. Kakashi watches quietly as Fugaku approaches the bed.

"Arigatou Kakashi, for looking after her for us for the night." Fugaku says softly as he lifts her into his arms. Kakashi nods, handing him her small backpack as well. Fugaku takes it, nodding at Kakashi, and then heading from the apartment and back through Konoha and home. When he reaches the district, the gates are opened, and then locked behind him, guards nodding at him as he passes, and he heads to the house, going inside.

Mikoto takes Sani from his arms, heading back to the bedrooms. When she lays her in her bed, Sani curls on her side, sighing a bit in her sleep, hugging the stuffed rabbit. Mikoto then leaves the room, blowing out the lamp on the way. After she leaves, Itachi slips into the room, climbing onto the bed and curling up beside Sani, happy she's back, where he can be with her again, and not away from her.

* * *

Over the next few days, Kakashi begins his training with the Uchiha cousin to control and hone his new Sharingan eye. Itachi and Sani often go to watch him train and they know that he likes to have them around too. They're currently watching him try to get the hang of copying a few smaller jutsus, which to the cousin's surprise he manages quite easily.

"I can't wait to get my Sharingan." Itachi says as he and Sani settle in the shade of a large old tree, leaning against the thick trunk. Sani nods,

"Hai, I can't either." As she leans her head on his shoulder, the two of then cheering as Kakashi masters another jutsu and grins.

"Impressive, Kakashi." A praising voice suddenly says, and the four of them turn, finding none other than Minato Namikaze, Konoha's Yellow Flash and Kakashi's sensei standing not that far away from them. Kakashi smiles and nods,

"Arigatou, Minato-sensei." He says, and the blond man chuckles and nods, coming to sit down on the grass beside Itachi and Sani.

"Mind if I join you?" he asks, and Itachi says,

"Not at all." And Sani smiles and nods too. Minato smiles too, settling comfortably onto the grass, watching Kakashi train. Shisui soon shows up as well, his mother behind him, bearing a tray with drinks and snacks for the kids, plus bento boxes for Kakashi and Asaki, the cousin. Minato calls the two over for a break, sipping a glass of iced tea as they come over and settle on the grass, both taking a bento and chopsticks and beginning to eat. Shisui's mother heads back home, and the three kids talk happily to Kakashi and Minato as they eat, though Asaki is quiet, barely saying anything.

Sani and Itachi lean into each other a bit, but they look over when they hear Minato begin to talk to Asaki about the war currently going on, asking.

"Will the Uchiha be fighting in the war?" and Asaki frowns, saying

"We might, I do not know if Lord Fugaku wants to fight, but if he does I know all of the Uchiha civilians, elderly and children will be sent to the hideouts for safety. Sani looks at Itachi, both of them curious, Hideouts? They try not to make it obvious that they're listening, and Asaki is unaware, even though Minato catches on to them, but decides to remain quiet about it. Soon enough Konoha will likely be pulled into the Ninja war, whether she wants to get into it or not.

* * *

A couple of weeks later, Sani and Itachi are outside again, watching Kakashi training with his temporary sensei, Asaki. He's working on copying much harder jutsu now, and as Minato had feared, the war is coming to Konoha. Fugaku is already making plans to send those of the clan who are unable to fight, civilians, the elderly and the children to the four Uchiha hideouts, one for each compass direction. Sani and Itachi don't want to leave Kakashi and their other friends too, but they know safety is priority, especially with Itachi being the clan heir. Mikoto will be going with them as well, as she had recently found out that she's pregnant again, and Fugaku wants her where it's safe so that no harm comes to her or the baby.

"I don't wanna go away." Sani says sadly, and Itachi nods too, wrapping an arm around her as they lean against the tree, watching Kakashi.

"Me either." He says, leaning his head against her shoulder. They continue to talk together, as they watch Kakashi, even though young, the two of them understand each other quite well for their age. As Kakashi and Asaki soon come over to eat, they notice other district families seem to be preparing as well, sealing up windows and doors, and packing up carts to get ready to go to the hideouts. Mikoto and Shisui's mother are packing the head family's cart; Shisui will be coming with them, since his parents are staying to fight. Itachi and Sani sigh, knowing they will be leaving at daybreak tomorrow.

"I'm gonna miss you kids." Kakashi says softly, reaching over to ruffle Itachi and Sani's hair as they look at him. He smiles slightly as they both scoot over and curl up at his sides, leaning up against him as they sadly watch their mother and aunt pack the cart to travel. Food, and other supplies like blankets, a first aid kit and medicine, clothes and everything they'd need. Mikoto also slips the kids' training gear into the kart as well, since Fugaku asked her to make sure the kids keep up their training while at the hideout. Kakashi keeps his arms around the kids, Asaki notices too, but doesn't say anything, though he does keep glancing at them. Kakashi sets his now finished bento box down, along with his chopsticks, and settles back against the tree, and he asks,

"Will you kids be okay?" and Sani and Itachi both lift their heads to look at him, nodding a bit, and then resting their heads back down, again watching the cart sadly. Kakashi sighs a bit, he wishes they didn't have to go either, they're like the little siblings he'd never had and he loves having them around, but he knows Fugaku wants them as safe as possible.

After Asaki finishes his lunch, and he and Kakashi train some more, Asaki heads back to make sure his sister and her family are ready to go, and Kakashi brings Itachi and Sani back to their house, sitting with them on the porch.

"Look after each other, alright?" he says, and both kids nod, and then they both tell him,

"Be safe." And Kakashi nods, hugging them both.

"You know I will." The kids return the hug, and then head inside when Mikoto opens the door, they pause and turn, waving to Kakashi, and then go inside, the door closing after them. Once they are out of sight, Kakashi turns and heads from the district, back to his apartment to go to bed and get some needed rest.

The next morning, Mikoto has the kids up early and dressed, doing a few last minute things to make sure they're ready to go. Fugaku gives them each a hug, ruffling their hair lightly, and then he pulls Mikoto into a kiss, a hand on her still flat stomach.

"Stay safe, all of you." He says, and Mikoto nods, hugging him back.

"We will, I promise." Fugaku nods and they go outside, where Itachi and Sani see several clan families getting into the carts for the trip. Shisui is already sitting on their cart, his parents off to the side of it, talking. Mikoto climbs up onto the cart with Fugaku's help, and then he lifts up both of the kids up as well, settling them down. Shisui settles with them, and Mikoto climbs into the driver's seat, taking the reins and whip to guide the pair of oxen that are ready to pull the cart, snorting and tossing their heads a bit.

The families all say goodbye to their loved ones that are staying behind, then the carts begin to move, Mikoto in the lead to guide the procession to the Northern hideout. Three other processions break off as well, heading to the Eastern, Western and Southern hideouts, effectively splitting the large clan into four smaller groups, guards with each group for protection. The head elders had decided that they felt smaller groups sent to each of the four hideouts was safer for the people going, instead of one large group sent to one hideout, which would be harder to protect and easier to find. The carts soon disappear from view, and Kakashi sighs a bit, talking with Asaki a moment before he heads back to his apartment.

Soon, Itachi, Sani and Shisui have crawled up toward the front of the cart where Mikoto is, to look around at the scenery, curious. Mikoto smiles, slapping the reins lightly against the rough hide of the oxen's backs. After a bit, the kids are getting restless, so Mikoto stops the cart and lets them down, an older cousin from the cart behind them also hops down to walk with them for a bit, since they need to burn off some energy. Itachi and Sani laugh as they run beside the carts, chasing each other and just having fun. The cousin stays close to the kids, making sure they don't go too far with their current game of tag, chasing each other around the carts and trees, laughing.

When they tire after a while, the cousin chuckles at them yawning and he lifts them up one by one and settles them back onto Mikoto's cart. They thank him sleepily and curl up in some of the blankets. Mikoto smiles, glancing back at them a moment, then turning back to the road as the oxen continues to plod along.

* * *

A few days into the journey, the kids are again racing around the carts happily, enjoying a new game of tag, when suddenly the oxen snort and toss their heads, stamping their feet in agitation. Itachi and Sani back away from them, not wanting to be kicked, while Shisui runs to get the cousin who watches them to tell him something's wrong on Mikoto's request. Soon the thick, coppery smell of blood fills the air, and Mikoto frowns, calling back to the carts,

"Kids inside! Quickly!" and the families nod, gathering kids who were playing on the ground as Sani and Itachi were and placing them back into the carts. Itachi and Sani though, curious as they are, start to wander off to the side of the path, wanting to know who could be hurt that it smells like blood so much. Mikoto sees them disappear into the bushes and her eyes widen.

"Kosa! The kids!" She yells to the cousin, pointing to the bushes where the two had gone through. He frowns and hurries after them, noting how worried Mikoto is. Itachi and Sani wind their way through twisting bushes and trees, coming to a huge, open field, and they both just freeze, their eyes widening and their faces going pale. The field is littered with bodies, they can see Konoha insignias on some, Stone on others and Wave on a few more, there's weapons everywhere, broken and not, and so much blood. The stench in the air is thick with it. The two kids stand there, shocked at the sight, and they reach for each other's hands, their small bodies trembling in fear and shock.

"S-so many…" Itachi mumbles, and Sani nods, and when Kosa finds them, they're standing at the same spot, silent as they stare out at the mass destruction. He frowns, kneeling down in front of them.

"Itachi-san? Sani-chan?" he asks in concern, but both kids remain silent, staring in almost an empty daze.

"Kuso!" he curses, frowning "we should have been far from the battle zone!" He scoops up both kids and hurries back to the carts, becoming even more worried when neither kid gives a response or movement. Mikoto frowns worriedly when she sees the kids in his arms, and he sets them down, saying to her.

"They… found the battlefield… the sight seems to have put them into shock. The scene was so much destruction and death." And she gasps, her eyes widening with worry. Shisui frowns, trying to shake his cousins and looking over at Kosa and Mikoto with teary eyes when neither child gives any response. Kosa sighs, writing quickly on a scroll and then summoning a brown messenger hawk, sending it off immediately with the scroll in the pouch on its back. Mikoto sighs worriedly, letting Kosa take over driving the cart so she can sit with the kids. Shisui and Itachi and Sani are sitting in the blankets, Shisui looking worried as Itachi and Sani seem to be staring ahead without really seeing.

"Oba-chan, are they in shock?" he asks Mikoto, and she nods sadly, saying.

"Hai, they saw something very, very bad." She says worriedly as she rubs their backs gently, settling down and pulling them onto her lap. Shisui watches sadly, hating to see his cousins hurting in any way. Itachi and Sani curl up a little bit, but remain silent, still in a bit of a numb like trance, the shock of what they'd seen too much for their young minds. Mikoto sighs, battle is never something young children should see, and even children destined to become shinobi should never witness battle and violence of this magnitude at such a young age. She knows its two more days before they reach the hideout they're headed for, and that the medic Kosa had just sent for won't arrive for at least four more, even traveling at shinobi speed.

When they stop to camp for the night, Mikoto has guards make sure no kids leave the camp to wander off at all. Not wanting any more kids to witness the scene Itachi and Sani had found by accident. Mikoto sighs a bit as she stirs the stew she's making, glancing over at Itachi and Sani, who are silently watching the fire, as if watching something only they can see, and she also notices how they still hold onto each other's hands too, never seeming to want to let go of each other. When it's ready she hands Shisui a bowl, then sits down with Itachi and Sani, a second and third bowl beside her. She remembers how she pretty much had to feed Sani to get her to eat after they found her until she started coming around, so she knows how to get the kids to stay nourished.

Shisui watches his aunt and cousins as he eats, watching how she brings a spoonful to Itachi's lips, easing it into his mouth, then uses her other hand to gently massage down his throat to encourage him to swallow. She repeats this with both kids until their bowls are mostly empty, and gets them to drink some water the same way as well too, a curious Shisui still watching them, intent to know how his aunt is doing this in case the need arises for him to help her. He notices that a while afterward she also uses a small bit of chakra to soothe his cousins to sleep as well, one where they won't have nightmares he hopes.

* * *

A few more days pass, around four as Shisui has counted, and his cousins are still not doing well. They have to be fed by Mikoto, and any movements they do make are almost robotic, the two of them seem to be numb to the world.

"Oba-chan, how long will they be like this?" he asks at breakfast on the fourth day. Mikoto's eyes sadden a bit, and she says softly,

"It's hard to tell, Sani has been like this once before, and it took her a couple weeks to come out of it." Shisui nods sadly, watching his cousins curled up by the fire, they've been now at the hideout for two days. Shisui sits down with Itachi and Sani for lunch, feeding them the way Mikoto showed him since she's busy with clan affairs at the moment. None of them notice a figure watching from the shadows, curious about the state of the two kids. Shisui finishes giving them their lunch, then eats his own after making sure both are okay, and hoping they come out of this stupor soon so he can have his cousins back. He eats his own meal, and then takes the dishes back to the kitchen to be washed, depositing them on a table before heading back to his cousins.

"Hey you two, I'm back." He says softly as he sits back down with Itachi and Sani, he tries to talk to them as often as possible; Mikoto does as well, hoping to get a response out of them to something they say. Shisui sighs, gazing around the hideout at the families huddled around different fires, since the rooms still have to be cleaned out from years of disuse. He fixes their blankets, and then settles back, gazing at the fire tiredly. He's still gazing at it later on when a shadow falls over him, and he looks up to see the Uchiha's head medic and Mikoto.

"I was able to get here faster than planned." The young woman says as she kneels in front of the two kids, then she continues,

"Do you know exactly what it was they saw?" and a voice says softly before Mikoto can answer her,

"What they saw, was a massacre." They turn to see Kosa standing there, watching the kids worriedly. "They went off wandering and found a battlefield; it was a total massacre, and one of the worst even I've seen in my life." He finishes. The medic frowns a bit, nodding as she starts checking the kids while Mikoto, Shisui and Kosa all watch her. Mikoto chews her lip as she watches her and the medic soon sits back,

"Hai, they are in shock. It seems to be about the same level of shock Sani was in when you took her in last year, they should come out of it in roughly the same amount of time. Mikoto nods, sighing in relief, Kosa and Shisui both smile too, relieved as well. The medic decides to stay with the family to keep an eye on Itachi and Sani, after handing out messages to the rest of the families from shinobi members back in Konoha.

The medic eases the two kids to sleep with gentle chakra, then moves to her own sleeping mat as Mikoto gets Itachi and Sani settled in theirs, making sure they aren't far from each other. Shisui tugs his mat closer to his cousins' as well, wanting to stay near them, wanting to be there when they come out of it and wake up. Mikoto lies down as well after she makes sure all of the other families are settled for the night and that guards are posted at every one of the building's entrances and exits. The medic, Miya, settles down on her mat as well, also not far from the kids just in case anything happens during the night. Shisui falls asleep not too long after, curled on his side facing his two cousins.

* * *

No one seems to notice the figure still hidden in the shadows, the silent figure who has never taken his eyes off the Uchiha and Ukishira heirs. He knows what the girl is; he's been watching the kids for a while now. He sighs quietly, hoping the two young prodigies come out of this soon, he wants to watch them train some more, so that he can know when to make his move to them. He watches them a moment more, then vanishes into the shadows, a small flash of bloody crimson red vanishes in the darkness where no one sees. The softest of dark laughter follows in the wake of the blood red and still night.

* * *

The next morning, the medic again checks Itachi and Sani, watching as Mikoto gets them to eat some soup for breakfast, then after, she goes with Mikoto and Shisui as they guide both kids on a walk. Itachi and Sani don't resist the movement, going along with it, but the two of them still remain silent, eyes gazing ahead of them.

As the next couple weeks pass, that same procedure continues, with Sani and Itachi slowly recovering. The medic also checks them every day, making sure that each day they get a walk as well, as the physical stimulation keeps them moving. Mikoto and Shisui continue to take care of them, and as the days pass they respond more and more, starting to swallow on their own, looking around a bit at things on their walks, until finally one day when Shisui brings them their breakfast, they both smile at him. He whoops in relief and hugs them both tightly, and they return the hugs. Itachi then says softly.

"Arigatou, for taking care of us." And Sani nods as well. Shisui smiles and rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Ano... it was nothing." Itachi and Sani smile again, settling with him by the fire. When Mikoto comes over later they both hug her too, and Itachi says.

"Kaa-san, I don't want to fight, I don't like it." Sani nods too,

"I don't like it either." She says, taking Itachi's hand. Mikoto nods, saying,

"You don't have to if you don't want to, but if the time comes when you need to, you'll have to put those fears aside." The kids both nod, taking the bowls of noodles she brought them and they start to eat. Mikoto smiles as she watches the kids eat, just relieved that Itachi and Sani are doing so much better. After relaxing for a while, Sani and Itachi ask for their training kits, even though they don't want to fight battles, they agree they want to keep up their training, so Shisui smiles and digs his out as well, Mikoto gives Itachi and Sani theirs, and Kosa takes them to the hideout's training grounds.

* * *

**Hope it was even better than the original. I would love to hear what you think. Please review and let me know? Constructive criticism welcome. :)**

**Sani.**


	3. Siblings, Surprises & Sadness

**Well here's chapter 3 all redone. I've added some new things while also expanding on existing things as well. I hope it too is better than the previous 3rd chapter.**

**Hope you enjoy it. :) Again I would also like to thank those who have reviewed, it keeps me going.**

"Blah" - Talking

'Blah' - Thinking

**Disclaimer: **Same as before, don't own, though I so wish I did sometimes! Lol

* * *

"Itachi look at this!" Shisui calls happily, he, Itachi and Sani are in the training grounds of the hideout again, they've been there for two months now. Fugaku has visited a couple of times, but he couldn't stay long due to having to get back to help protect the village. Mikoto is now starting to show her pregnancy just a bit, and Itachi and Sani are excited at the idea of having a new sibling. Though they haven't decided yet if they'd prefer an Imouto or an Otouto, they playfully squabble about it sometimes, which makes Mikoto and Shisui laugh. They laugh and race Shisui around the training area, practicing their shinobi speed, using chakra to enhance the speed they run at; they've also been practicing a bit of tree climbing as well, though Kosa is always nearby for that.

Itachi and Sani grin, watching Shisui going higher up a tree, Kosa standing below him in case for safety. They smile as he makes his way up higher than any of them have gone before, he's grinning excitedly too, soon jumping down with Kosa's help. Itachi and Sani run over, talking about the tree climbing and stuff. They also practice shuriken and kunai throwing, and also go through some Taijutsu with Kosa, and he teaches them some new hand signs to practice along with their other training.

A couple days later, the three kids are by themselves in the training grounds, when a shadowy figure comes out from the back, coming up and just watching them for a few minutes. He has on a dark cloak and a mask, gloves also on his hands. Itachi moves in front of Sani, and then Shisui moves close to them as well.

"You three are quite advanced for your age." The man says, and the kids gasp a bit, watching him nervously. The man says,

"You show promise, I would like to train you three a bit myself." And to their surprise, through the eyeholes of his mask they see a three tomoed sharingan.

"Even Sharingan?" Shisui asks curiously, and the man chuckles,

"Hai, even Sharingan. I can see the three of you awakening it at an early age." And they gasp, eyes wide, and they soon come closer to the man, curious. He suddenly uses a body flicker technique, a transportation or teleportation jutsu, and Shisui grins,

"So cool! I gotta learn that!" and the man chuckles again. He jumps down from the tree that he had relocated into and says,

"I will return again, tell no one, alright?" and he vanishes. Itachi, Sani and Shisui look at each other curiously, sitting down on the grass to talk about this man. They can't help being curious about him, he has the Sharingan, and said he can train them. They decide to keep it just to themselves for now; too curious about what he could teach them. When Kosa returns to bring them back for lunch, they're sitting on the grass practicing hand signs. When they see him by the entryway they get up and pack their gear, following him back. They return to the family's fire for dinner, talking a bit with Mikoto as they eat, but all three are still thinking about when the man appeared during their training, and what he could possibly teach them.

Over the next several days, the same man appears a couple more times, and the kids tell him they would like to train with him as well, and he nods, but tells them that it must just be kept between the four of them. They nod their agreement, and soon begin training with this new teacher. Shisui is particularly interested in the teleportation jutsu, but the man tells him that he needs to be a little older and understand chakra control just a little better to be able to get the hang of the jutsu.

One day, after they had been training with the man for a couple of weeks, Shisui asks him,

"Sensei, could we know your name?" and the man regards him curiously, watching him just a moment, and then says,

"I suppose. You can call me Madara." And Shisui and Itachi gasp.

"The founder Madara?" Shisui asks, having heard stories from his parents, and the man just chuckles and nods,

"I suppose I am." He says, leaning back against the wall a bit, watching while the kids as they eat their lunch, on a break from training. The kids soon finish eating, and they stand up along with Madara to resume training. He's also explained to them he won't be able to train them as frequently as he would like to until their a bit older and more experienced, which they had all grumbled a bit about at first, but now accept.

After that day, the rest of their training at the hideout goes about the same, Madara shows up once ever one to two weeks to test them on what he's given them to practice, and can easily see the potential all three kids have. Kosa still trains with them as well, though on the nights that Madara comes, Kosa ends up instead taking a nap in the bushes thanks to a sleep jutsu he has no idea he's under. Sani and Itachi greatly enjoy training with Madara, as does Shisui, eager to learn from him, especially when he shows them some of the powerful jutsus he has in his arsenal.

* * *

One day when he arrives for training, he sits the kids down, saying softly,

"I am going to start teaching you something new when I'm here. I'm going to start working on breaking out of genjutsus with you, especially dojoutsu based ones. For example ones cast with the Sharingan." The kids gasp, nodding eagerly, anxious to learn. He has them stand up and face him, and one by one he casts a mild genjutsu on them, wanting to see if they are yet able to recognize false images and realities created by the illusions.

"This is strange." Itachi murmurs as he looks around, it looks like the training grounds, but yet something seems off about it, though he isn't quite sure what it is. He looks around examining everything as carefully as a sharp four year old can, extending his senses the way his parents had taught him to in unfamiliar surroundings. He notices the chakra flow around himself and of the area seems off and tries to focus on it, letting his chakra surge a bit, and suddenly all of the images shatter almost like glass, and he finds himself looking at Madara, a bit wide eyed at the experience.

"Very impressive Itachi." He says, nodding in approval, and Sani and Shisui both break out of theirs a moment later as well. Madara nods again,

"I am very impressed, you recognized that for what it was quite quickly." And the kids nod, all smiling a bit. Madara nods his appreciation, staying for another hour or so to continue working with them. Soon they are able to break out of low level and some more moderate level strength genjutsus quite quickly. He wants to build their defenses as well as offences. After he is satisfied for the day, he kneels down and opens a scroll, and the three kids kneel down with him, watching curiously. He says,

"This is a special contract for my personal crow; I am allowing you on it, but only contact me in this way in case of emergency. I will also use this to contact you. Itachi, Sani and Shisui all nod, biting their thumbs and writing their names where Madara shows them, him helping them if needed, then they place their fingerprints as well. Then says,

"Remember these signs." All three nod, watching him do the five hand signs needed to call the crow. They each practice it a few times, and Madara nods approval when they all have the five signs memorized. He soon stashes the scroll away and disappears with another teleportation jutsu, and soon Kosa comes in to get them for dinner.

* * *

Itachi, Sani and Mikoto and the rest of the clan have been back home from the hideouts for a few months now, and Shisui is six, Itachi is now five, and Sani just shy of four. Mikoto is due pretty soon to have the baby too, and Itachi and Sani are excited about their new brother or sister. They're really excited to soon meet him or her. They also train with their father every day, and they have done exceptionally well. They're lately being called the pride of the clan. The two of them are very close too.

Sani and Itachi have just finished their training, and are now running toward the Academy, a clansmen keeping watch over them from not far behind. Fugaku has been doing that a lot lately; when the kids go off to play he has a cousin watch over them most of the time. Their older cousin Shisui has just started at the academy this year and he was really excited about it, so now Sani and Itachi are on their way there. They want to see Shisui after his first day, to ask him what it was like. He's outside with some friends, and when he sees his cousins come up from the trail by the academy, he tells his friends to wait a moment and runs over.

"How was it?" Itachi asks eagerly when he stops beside them and Shisui grins.

"It was awesome!" he declares, and he starts walking with them for a bit, talking with them and telling them about his first day, and a really nice Chunin teacher named Iruka, until his friends call him back over to join them. Shisui calls to them that he's coming, and then says

"Itachi, will you tell my kaa-san for me that I'll be late?" and Itachi nods, Sani does as well. Itachi and Sani then continue home after he returns to his friends.

Unfortunately their guard is not paying attention like he should be as they walk, and has fallen behind, slowing down and taking to his Chunin girlfriend instead of watching the kids. They also don't notice that he's gone either. The two of them head through the back street toward the compound, which is usually deserted during the day, when they're stopped by the group of boys that first showed up back on that day at the compound. One appears behind the two, and then another and they grab the kids' arms, holding them pinned behind their backs. Then as Sani tries to wriggle away, the oldest boy, that's the leader of the group starts to call Itachi names and shoves him down onto the ground, and when he groans and gets back up, the boy starts repeatedly punching Itachi in the stomach, chest and sides.

"Stop it!" Sani yells, trying to get free. Itachi tries to twist away from the blows, earning some punches to the back when he does too, but then he stops suddenly when the boy holding Sani pulls out a shuriken and holds it's point to her throat while laughing.

"Let her go." He says quietly, his head dropping, black bangs framing and hiding his pale face, but the leader sneers and shakes his head, saying coldly,

"No, I prefer that she watch." Itachi tries to blink back the stinging in his eyes at that. Sani's eyes fill with tears, just wanting the boys to let go of them and just let them go home, but knowing it won't happen until they choose for it to. Then the boy starts hitting Itachi again, in almost every place he can reach, bruises and welts starting to appear on the pale skin with the repeated blows, and then he starts taunting now too.

"Aw, is the weakling Uchiha going to cry?" he says mockingly, sneering again as he shoves the Uchiha back down onto the ground roughly, causing his palm and arm to scrape over some rocks in the dirt, and Itachi looks away, refusing to answer. The boy's eyes flash with anger and he hauls Itachi up again by the hair.

"I knew the Uchiha's were all weak, Otou-san was right." He then sneers, throwing Itachi back down onto the rocks and dirt. The other boys laugh, mocking Itachi as well.

"Stop it! Please!" Sani begs, getting scared. They finally release her as well, and they all run off into the trees. Sani runs over to Itachi, who's now pulled himself up on his knees, gasping and coughing a bit, blood on his hands and forearms from the scrapes against the stones, his lip is swollen and bleeding as well, and bruises litter his torso and arms. She helps him up, and they slowly make their way home, Itachi moving gingerly.

When they get to the house they stop before they go inside, and Itachi pulls on his long sleeve shirt to hide his arms, and they head into the house, where they find that Fugaku is all jumpy and nervous, pacing the kitchen, or sitting down and then standing up again. When they go to ask what's going on, Mikoto suddenly screams in pain, and they both frown.

"The baby is coming!" Fugaku says, pacing again, and their eyes widen. Mikoto cries out again in pain, and Fugaku hurries to her after getting the kids a quick snack. Itachi and Sani go to his room to wait, taking the plate with them.

As soon as they sit on the bed, Itachi begins to cry, still shaking from earlier. Sani moves over beside Itachi, and gingerly puts her arms around him as he lays his head on her shoulder, hiding his face and curling close.

Itachi refuses to let his emotions show in front of anyone, that is, except Sani, who he trusts more than anything. Only when they're alone does he show what he's truly feeling. She's the same way with him; the bond they've developed is a deeper trust than usually seen between two people. The bullying has been going on for two years now, and is obviously getting worse after what just happened to them tonight.

When Itachi has calmed down after a while, and the kids eat their snack, changing into some play clothes as well, the two of them go to see if the baby is here yet. As they quietly creep up to their parents' bedroom doors, they hear soft crying and talking. Intrigued, Itachi and Sani look at each other, and then Itachi gently pushes open the shoji screen and they both peek around it to inside. Mikoto and Fugaku look over from their spot on the bed, and Mikoto smiles at them, then down at the bundle in her arms.

"Come over here." She says softly, and Sani and Itachi both nod, coming inside and both go over to the bed; giving the bundle in her arms a confused but curious look. They climb onto the bed, crawling over to sit with their parents. Mikoto smiles and moves the soft blanket, revealing a baby's face, with a head covered in a shock of dark black hair. His little eyes are closed, and his tiny mouth is puckered in a soft cry. Fugaku says softly,

"Meet your new otouto, Sasuke." Itachi and Sani smile and gaze at Sasuke curiously. Sani reaches out and gently touches his soft, velvety cheek and he coos softly, onyx eyes opening and searching around. She and Itachi grin, touching his cheeks and hair, and Mikoto even lets them each hold Sasuke for a few moments. When she tires though, she nurses the baby, and then kisses Itachi and Sani on the cheek, before settling down in bed.

Fugaku then takes the two kids outside to train for a while, so that Mikoto can rest. They start with target practice, and Sani chews her lip, noticing how Itachi is trying to hide the pain each movement causes as they throw kunais at the wood targets set up in the yard, working on their shuriken jutsus. Sani keeps her eyes on a target, trying not to let Fugaku see the way she keeps glancing at Itachi worriedly, they don't want anyone to know about the bullying, afraid people would see them as weak for falling victim to it.

The training ends after a bit, and Fugaku heads back inside to Mikoto, and Itachi and Sani return to their room for a change of clothes and towels, and then head to the spare, private bathhouse near the far corner of the grounds to relax in the family's private hot springs. They make sure it's empty, and then they go inside to the springs. They set their towels and clean yukatas on a bench, and then they undress out of their now dirty clothes, tie up their hair, and then wade into the springs.

Sani sighs a bit as she watches Itachi relax in the hot water, closing his eyes and settling back against the rock steps, the heat soothing his bruised and sore body. He moves closer to Sani after a bit, and he lays his head on her shoulder as they both watch the stars, talking quietly together and just relaxing.

While Sani sees the sensitive and vulnerable side of Itachi, the quiet, caring side he keeps so well hidden, everyone else sees the distant, aloof, almost uncaring side of him, he doesn't feel that anyone deserves to see the real him, that they'd think him weak or unfit to be heir of the clan if they did see it.

Fugaku eventually goes outside to the springs to get the kids and bring them back inside to go to bed, where he finds Sani still star watching, green eyes searching the sky, with her arm around Itachi as he sleeps with his head on her shoulder. Fugaku sighs a little, wishing his son would be more open with himself and Mikoto, instead of always so closed off and distant. With a sigh, he starts picking up their dirty clothes from the ground, putting them in a cloth laundry bag that had been hanging on the wall.

_'At least he's open to someone.'_ He then notices the deep bruises on his son's chest and arms and he frowns, wondering how the boy could have gotten them, he knows Itachi is not the type to be clumsy during training or anything like that.

'_Nani?'_ he wonders, confused and a little worried. When Sani sees him watching them with an unusual look on his face, she gently shakes Itachi awake and they make their way out of the water, wrapping their towels around themselves. That's when she also notices that Itachi is avoiding their father's gaze as they dry off, then dress in their fresh, dry undergarments and yukatas. They then come over to Fugaku, putting their towels in the bag when he opens it for them. Itachi continues to stays close to Sani as they walk back to the house behind Fugaku, talking quietly together. Itachi also climbs into Sani's bed that night, a frightened, sad young boy just wanting to be held and reassured.

* * *

Over the next several weeks, Sani and Itachi are adjusting well to having their new otouto, and they love helping Mikoto take care of him. They often go with Mikoto to visit a friend of hers in the village, the new Yondaime, or 4th Hokage's wife, Kushina. Kushina is actually due to have her and Minato's first child very shortly, and Sani and Itachi have noticed that both of the women talk about their younger children possibly becoming best friends one day. When they arrive, Minato is just giving Kushina a kiss as he's heading out.

"Send Gamakichi if you need me, alright?" he calls as he heads off, and Kushina says she will, waving at him. The kids smile and wave at the Hokage as well, and then they follow the two women into the house. Kushina settles into a chair, the housekeeper sets a tray of tea, juice for the kids and some light cookies down on the table, and then excuses herself from the room to tend to other duties. Mikoto spreads a blanket on the floor and lays Sasuke on it, knowing Itachi and Sani love to play with him and entertain him, and she goes over and sits down with Kushina, the two women beginning to talk. Itachi smiles, tickling Sasuke's foot lightly, both of them laughing softly as he gurgles happily and kicks his legs, waving his little fists.

"I feel like it's going to be a boy, with the way I get kicked." Kushina says with a laugh, a hand resting on her large, rounded stomach, and Mikoto smiles and nods.

"Hai, Sasuke was quite the kicker as well." Kushina nods and smiles again, sipping her ginger tea. Itachi and Sani both look over, wondering if they'll be able to meet the baby once she or he is born, and what he or she would be like. They soon go back to playing with Sasuke while both women continue to talk together, and a few hours go by, the women both noticing not only has the baby fallen asleep, but Itachi and Sani have as well, right near him. Kushina just smiles.

"If you wait a few moments, Minato will be home, he'll help you carry them." And Mikoto nods and settles back in her chair.

"Arigatou." She says, and Kushina just nods and smiles. Sure enough, they soon hear the door open and Minato's cheery voice as he hums to himself. He comes into the living room where everyone is, greeting Kushina with a kiss and Mikoto with a smile and nod. He then chuckles as he sees the sleeping kids.

"Need a hand with them?" he asks, and Mikoto nods a bit, standing up and gently picking up Sasuke and wrapping him in his blanket. Minato bends down, gently picking up Itachi, and then Sani as well, their heads coming to rest on his shoulders. Mikoto picks up the diaper bag, and she heads out of the house with Minato after hugging Kushina, telling her to let her know if anything happens. Minato kisses his wife, and then heads off after Mikoto, being careful that he doesn't wake the two sleeping kids.

The two adults end up talking a bit as they make their way through Konoha back to the Uchiha district, Minato still carrying the sleeping kids. When the guards see them, Mikoto nods, and they open the gates, letting them in. She thanks them, and leads Minato through the district to the house, where Fugaku is actually waiting on the porch.

"Mikoto?" he asks, greeting her with a kiss, then looking at the Hokage carrying the two still sleeping children. Minato nods and smiles,

"They fell asleep while Kushina and Mikoto were visiting, so I offered to carry them home for her." Fugaku nods, coming forward and taking Itachi into his arms carefully.

"Arigatou." He says, and Minato nods, adjusting Sani as he follows the couple into the house. Mikoto takes Sasuke to bed, while Fugaku leads Minato to Itachi and Sani's room, well mainly Sani's room because Itachi usually ends up in there with her. He helps Fugaku change the kids into pajamas, then they lay them in bed, and Fugaku covers them.

Back in the kitchen, Minato ends up having a cup of tea with Fugaku and Mikoto, talking with them for a little bit before heading back home to Kushina.

Several days later, Itachi and Sani are home with Sasuke, looking after him and entertaining him while Fugaku and Mikoto are out. Fugaku is doing something with the police force, and he won't be back until late, and Mikoto went to see Kushina, since she had sent Gamakichi saying she thinks she's starting labor and Minato's still at work.

"Tachi, I don't feel right. I feel… like something is going to happen." Itachi nods, he and Sani both have had the same feeling since they woke up. They're currently sitting on the porch out back of the house by the koi pond, Sasuke tucked into a carrying sling Itachi is wearing over his shoulder. They've been ordered to stay inside the district; apparently several people had also felt what seemed like a bad omen, knowing Kushina's seal over the Kyuubi will weaken in childbirth.

Meanwhile Mikoto arrives at the Namikaze home, knocking on the door. The housekeeper lets her in, leading her to the master bedroom where Kushina is laying in bed, reading, though she then puts the book down, one hand on her swollen stomach as she winces a bit and begins to breathe through the contraction. Mikoto moves over to her side.

"How are you doing?" she asks, and the red haired women smiles a little when the pain passes and eases.

"Alright I suppose. I just wish Minato would get off work already." Mikoto nods, settling herself into a chair beside the bed, deciding to take over the role of labor coach until Minato gets back home.

Soon council members begin to arrive to check on Kushina and monitor her progress as she labors, since she will have to be taken to the special sealing chamber for the delivery, so they can work to keep Kyuubi from breaking loose from his seal. Mikoto continues to help with coaching her as she progresses, keeping her focused and relaxed as much as possible. They're about to check Kushina's progress, when suddenly a cloud of smoke and a soft cracking sound is heard, fading to reveal a small orange toad.

"Hello Gamakichi." Kushina says, looking over at him. The little toad nods and bows a bit, and then he says,

"Master Minato is on his way, Lady Kushina." And she nods and smiles a bit tiredly,

"Arigatou." The toad nods again and vanishes in the same puff of smoke. Kushina settles back as they check her, watching as the others prepare to move her to the sealing chamber for the delivery. Minato soon arrives, greeting her with a kiss, and then lifting her into his arms, with a blanket wrapped around her. Mikoto says goodbye to them, telling them to make sure to tell them soon enough if it's a boy or girl. They nod, and Mikoto heads out to meet with Fugaku as he patrols the village borders with his forces, having been asked by Minato as extra protection in case the seal happens to weaken more than can be controlled.

Back at the house, Sani and Itachi are still on the porch, Sasuke still in the sling, sleeping now as they watch the sky, looking at the starts as they lean against a porch pillar. Things seem to be fairly quiet right now, as Sani smiles and brushes some of the baby's hair back a bit, Itachi smiles too, adjusting him slightly in the carrying sling. When several moments later, an angry, loud roar sounds through the air, making both kids jump, and the baby wake up, and he starts to cry. Itachi says to him softly,

"Shh, I've got you. Your big brother won't let anything happen to you." Sani smiles a bit at the way Itachi looks at his brother, and she scoots closer to his side, both of them tensing as they hear another angry roar. Suddenly several clan ninja start running by, and from one of them a frightening catch of words is heard.

"Kyuubi is loose!" he yells to the man who catches up to him, and several ninja take off running out of the district. The two kids stay close together on the porch, listening to the roars of the Kyuubi and the sounds of yelling and fighting, the village's Shinobi desperately trying to contain the nine-tailed fox. Itachi and Sani listen to the battle outside the village, tense and all nervous about what could happen, and wanting to protect Sasuke. They frown though when it goes fairly quiet, wondering what happened, not knowing that Minato has transported himself and Kyuubi away from the village to where the sealing building is, deciding his only choice now is to seal the fox inside his infant son.

Later that night when their parents come home, Itachi and Sani frown at how worn out and beaten they look, and Sani quickly brings tea over when they sit at the table, Itachi still has the sleeping Sasuke in the carry sling over his shoulder. Mikoto thanks Sani softly when she sets the tea on the table, and she says softly,

"Itachi, Sani, it was bad tonight. The village was attacked by Kyuubi, and many people were hurt, and many died too. Minato-san and Kushina-san… both died as well." Itachi and Sani both gasp softly, their eyes wide. They had just seen Minato and Kushina the other day, and now they're gone. Mikoto also says the whereabouts of their baby boy is currently unknown as well. Itachi and Sani nod sadly, missing their friends.

A couple of days later, everyone in the village dresses in black, gathering around the Hokage's tower for the funeral for the 4th Hokage, Minato Namikaze and also for his wife. The entire village gathers, saying their prayers and mourning their fallen leader. Unknown to nearly all of them, a tiny, blond baby boy is in the care of the two council elders, a bold, black seal right on the center of his stomach, surrounding his belly button. The boy who will be called, Naruto.

* * *

Over the next several months, the village is putting itself back together, the dead have been laid to rest, and families are struggling to get through the hard times, especially those who've lost one or more members in the attack. Itachi and Sani have never seen Minato and Kushina's baby, Naruto, because they don't know where he was taken to be cared for. Fugaku and Mikoto have been working to help the clan rebuild after their losses in the battle as well.

Also, the bullying is still getting worse; Itachi and Sani are accosted by the group of boys quite frequently, always coming out of it with bruises, Itachi especially. But now there's another, much more worrying problem for Sani and Itachi. Their parents have become so focused on Sasuke, who's now ten months old, that they now seem to have no time for Itachi and less for her, and Itachi is becoming very depressed and withdrawn about it, the bullying has been making him bad enough, but now this is making it worse, and doesn't talk much. He basically only talks to Sani now, hardly anyone else. Fugaku still trains her, but not nearly as much as before, and he tends to avoid training Itachi, unless he pulls off something exceptional, saying he has other stuff to do because of the police force.

One upside they have is they and Shisui are still continuing their training with Madara on a regular basis, and he has started to suspect something is going on with his two younger students, but has yet to confront them about it, he wants to wait and see if they bring it up first. They've thought about telling him, but they are afraid that he too would find them weak for falling victim to it, so have kept it to themselves so far. They both know though that if any of it becomes too serious, or if something really bad happens during one of the ambushes by the group of boys, they might have to call Madara for help, though are a bit nervous that he'd be mad at them for such a summons.

Sani is currently sitting on the floor, playing with Sasuke while waiting for Itachi to come and get her after school. He's now in the Academy, as he's turned six, entrance age. Also he and Sani love going for walks. She can't wait to start at the Academy too.

Sasuke and she are very close as well, he adores both her and his big brother, and follows them around everywhere, but Sani always makes sure she has time for Itachi, he's too important to her not to. Sani smiles at Sasuke, he's giggling happily as she makes his teddy bear dance to imaginary music while they play on the living room floor. Sani soon glances at the clock, then back at the bear. She knows that when Itachi gets home he will likely want to train some. She has also taken it on herself to "control" how much Itachi trains. As the way he pushes himself into it lately is excessive, he'd train all day if he could, and she figures that he probably wouldn't rest at all if she didn't beg him to.

Sasuke soon crawls over to their mother, hungry, so Sani puts the bear away, and she heads outside. Heading across the grounds and out the back way, she heads down the path a bit, and she perches on a tree branch to wait for Itachi, watching the path. When she senses his chakra, something she and Itachi had recently learned how to do, she jumps down, running to meet him, worried at how disturbed his chakra feels. What she finds though shocks her. He's bruised, bleeding and limping. He's also clutching at his ribs; every step is causing him pain. Her eyes fill with tears as she runs over to him, gently pulling him into her arms. He nearly collapses when she reaches him, sinking against her. She leads him back down the path and into the district, heading over to the building at the compound's far end that houses their special hot spring, helping him undress to his shorts and slip into the soothing hot water. She then undresses as well and wades into the water, settling in beside him.

"It was them, right?" she asks, and he nods, his dark eyes downcast and sad.

"Oh, Tachi-kun, gomen that I wasn't there." She says softly, wrapping her arms around him gently. And as soon as her arms touch him, he tenses at first, and then he completely breaks down sobbing, his slim body shaking, shocking her, this is the worst yet.

"W-why won't t-they leave m-me alone?" he whispers despairingly through tears, shoulders trembling as he sobs. He hides his face in her shoulder as the sobs pour from his body. The bullying is breaking him and she doesn't know how to stop it. Itachi would never, EVER let his family see him vulnerable this way. At first she wanted him to tell someone about what's been happening, but he said he didn't want people to think he was weak, so he doesn't want to tell anyone what's been happening. He stays curled up close to her, her soft touches and voice is the only thing that soothes him now. She keeps him close, starting to softly sing their favorite song that Mikoto used to sing to them at night.

After he calms down, Sani takes him to the house of a family friend, she always helps them out, and she doesn't say anything to their parents. She helps him inside when the door is opened for them, leading him over to the couch the woman indicates. Sani then keeps one year old Sakura occupied while her mother heals Itachi's injuries. He winces when she probes his ribcage to check it, whimpering a bit as she examines the deep bruises and a few cuts as well. He thanks her quietly when she finishes, sitting up on the couch and moving around experimentally to make sure it doesn't still hurt. She also tries again to convince Itachi and Sani to tell their parents about the injuries and the bullying, but they again adamantly refuse, not wanting to be seen as weak or whiny. When she's finished, the kids head back home after telling her thank you. That night, Itachi again comes to Sani's room, curling up beside her and sniffling and wiping his eyes a bit, not wanting to be alone.

The next morning, Sasuke climbs into the bed, waking them both up by snuggling down with them and then soon poking their sides, grinning and saying cutely,

"Tou-san." And pointing out the door, meaning their father wants them outside. Itachi goes to his room and he and Sani get dressed and get their training gear, and head into the kitchen for breakfast first, and then they go outside with Sasuke to the training grounds where their father is waiting. When they stop in front of him, Fugaku tells them that today he's teaching them the Shuriken Jutsu. Both their eyes light up, he's actually going to teach BOTH of them something. They get ready to learn, getting out some of their shurikens. Sasuke sits on the grass so he can see his big brother and sister practice. They spend the entire morning working on the jutsu, and then they go inside for lunch, Sasuke giggling happily as Sani tickles him in his high chair after Mikoto settles him into it.

* * *

**Well there it is, I hope it was good. Tell me what you think? Reviews are always welcome! Please share your thoughts? :)**

**Sani.**


	4. Memories Can Be Good and Bad

**Hello again! Here is my new and vastly improved next chapter. You'll see not only did I improve everything that existed, but added a whole new sequence as well! This chapter also includes a time skip to move it ahead a few years. Thank you again to those who have reviewed, and followed this story from the start. You rock! :)**

**Enjoy it! :)**

"Blah" - Talking

'Blah' - Thinking

**Disclaimer:** As usual, don't own Naruto or its characters, just my own plots and Oc's.

* * *

**Four years later**

Itachi is now ten years old, and Sani is nine. Sasuke and Sakura, who have met for some play groups at the communal park where several clan families bring their kids, are both five years old, though Sakura is a few months older than Sasuke. They also know of and have met a little boy named Naruto, who the villagers all seem to despise, and they figure that it must have something to do with the nine-tailed fox incident from five years ago, though they do not know the truth about him yet. They don't really talk to him much, but they have come to his rescue a few times from gangs of bullying kids, and even some parents.

Itachi and Sani are genin, Sani is a second year genin now and Itachi himself is a third year. Right now he's actually in the midst of the Chunin exams. Itachi and Sani had both graduated the Academy at age seven, and the clan calls them prodigies. But no matter what they do, the bullies are still stronger. Itachi and Sani have still not told their parents, or even their teacher Madara about the bullying, even though the elder Uchiha has suspected something for years now, they're too afraid too due to many threats made by the boys, mostly toward Sasuke.

Also, when Itachi was only eight, he activated his Sharingan during a scary encounter with those bullies. They also haven't told their parents yet, but Sani has also activated Sharingan. Hers looks though like a pinwheel with two blades. It was also activated when she was eight. Madara was very impressed with both of them; Shisui has just recently activated his as well, so now Madara is training them in the ways of their clan's dojoutsu too. Sani and Itachi sometimes wonder if it was because of a blood pact they made three years ago that tied their blood together that made it happen, as odd as it may sound. Though, they also wonder if the Ukishira bloodline trait is something that can mimic, or 'inherit' other bloodline traits, or also maybe something else tied to the Sharingan. They have no idea what the real trait could be though.

* * *

_***Flashback Start – Three Years Ago***_

_Sani smiles as she leads two year old Sasuke across the street to their aunt's house, Sasuke is going to be spending a few hours there playing with another cousin while their parents are out to run some errands, and Sani is going to meet Itachi at the Academy. She smiles and ruffles his hair, kissing the top of his head._

"_Be good, okay?" she says, and he nods, waving and then running to the porch where their aunt is waiting. She smiles and waves too, handing Sani a paper bag with a smile, and then watching as she heads back down the street and to the compound's gates. She waits while they're opened, and then thanks the guards and she takes off to the Academy, eager to see Itachi since today is his graduation day. She smiles when she sees him and the rest of his class come out of the building, and she runs over to him with a grin. _

"_Tachi-kun!" Sani cries happily, hugging him tightly, "you did it!" he blushes slightly, smiling some as he shows her his new Hitai-ate, or forehead protector that he got when he graduated. They start back on their way home after Itachi says goodbye to a couple school friends, and Itachi begins telling her about the bell test he had to pass for his new Jonin sensei, in order to fully graduate from the Academy, even after the in school test. _

_She smiles and links her arm through his as they walk, and he rests his head on her shoulder some, staying close to her side. Had anyone else touched him that way, he would have jerked back away from them almost immediately. Sani smiles as she listens, curious about the test, since she's going to start in the Academy on the next term, and the clan has high hopes that she will excel as well as Itachi has in studies as well as training. _

_They're just about halfway home, snacking on a few of the Dango sticks Sani brought with her that their aunt gave her when she dropped Sasuke off, when they sense some very familiar angry chakra. They both glance around, but don't have to look far, when the eight boys that always torment them come out. All of them are nearly done their second year as genin, and they're all thirteen, typical classic bullies. Itachi and Sani figure they have something against Uchiha's head family, but they don't know what it could be. They move closer and surround Itachi and Sani in a circle, several of them sneering at the two now trapped kids. _

_"Well, well, well… look at this, little Lord Uchiha made genin." One sneers. Another one smirks and taunts,_

_"What'd you do? Cheat? Steal the Hitai-ate?" while a third and fourth suddenly move in and grab Sani roughly, one holding a kunai to her pale throat. Itachi's eyes narrow, a hand moving to the shuriken holster on his leg._

_"Ah, ah." One of the guys holding Sani says, pressing the kunai to her throat a bit harder, and causing a fine thread of bright crimson to appear against her creamy skin. Itachi's eyes widen a tiny bit, and he swallows nervously, sighing and relenting._

_"If you try to fight us, she dies." The leader says coolly, and Itachi hangs his head, defeated, not wanting them to have the satisfaction of seeing how upset he is. This is when they take their chance and pounce on him, fists and feet going after every inch of the young Uchiha that they can get to. Sani starts to cry, knowing she can't do anything to make it stop, to make the boys leave them alone._

_They force Itachi to his knees, as blows connect from all sides. He tries not to show anger or tears, he wants to make sure nothing happens to Sani at all. They continue to taunt and tease him, the leader of the group soon pinning him to the ground so the others can get free, cheap shots at him. Sani stifles a scream when one boy's fist connects painfully with Itachi's ribcage in the same spot where a previous beating had cracked one of his ribs a couple years or so ago. _

_When they finally stop, leaving Itachi on the ground, holding his stomach and moaning in pain, they leave, but not before one of them solidly punches Sani in the stomach, dropping her to her knees with a pained gasp, and then slashes at her arm with the kunai when she tries to block them. She groans and gets up, rubbing her stomach a bit and looking around, she sees Itachi not far from her, and she crawls over to him from where she landed on her knees. He sits up slowly, wincing a bit. When he sees the blood leaking down her arm onto the ground, his look turns furious, his eyes darkening as he nearly growls in anger. _

_"Tachi-kun." She says softly, gently brushing a hand across his cheek, making him look at her, and he starts to slowly relax, sighing some as he closes his eyes, then opens them again just a moment later. He then takes her hand, muttering,_

_"This is getting ridiculous." as he examines the wound on her arm. Itachi then looks at his hand, which is bleeding from where he'd been cut while fending off a shuriken aimed for his head. He then places his hand on her arm, right over her cut, and she watches for a minute, then puts her other hand on top of Itachi's._

_"We'll be friends forever." She says softly, and he nods as well, ,_

_"Forever." He agrees, squeezing her arm gently before letting it go. Sani helps Itachi up, and they slowly, and painfully make their way to their private hot spring, undressing and sitting down in the warm, soothing water, side by side, where Itachi lets down his walls and begins to cry, tears of both anger and despair. Sani ends up starting to cry some too, it hurts so much to see him this way, he's becoming so broken by everything that's been happening to them. It's especially painful when he starts saying it's his fault she got hurt. She gently wraps her arms around him, trying to offer what comfort she can, and he lays his head down onto her shoulder._

_He's depressed, lonely, withdrawn and sullen, and the increasing neglect from their parents is only making things worse, he feels so unwanted and unloved. They care about his talents and abilities, and how they would benefit the clan, but not about him personally, that's how Itachi feels. He soon curls closer; his sobs are slowing down as he drifts to sleep. _

_Sani watches the stars, as her sad, slowly breaking, frail-spirited best friend sleeps at her side. She sighs sadly, wishing she could protect him from all his pain, but also knowing she's the only thing keeping him sane and grounded, as well as Sasuke who he absolutely adores. The breeze soon picks up some, and she notices the stars vanishing as dark, menacing clouds move in across the sky. She sighs, then stretches and sits up some, carefully because of Itachi beside her._

_"Tachi-kun." She says softly, gently shaking his shoulder. He opens his onyx eyes, and when he looks up at her, she can see the sadness, the desperate loneliness in their obsidian depths. He looks so much like a lost young boy. She smiles softly and gently brushes back his soft ebony bangs, saying,_

_"We better go before it rains." He nods, and they get out of the spring, drying and dressing, and then heading off. They stop at Mrs. Haruno's first to get their wounds treated, and then they head off home to go to bed._

_"Nishu nee-chan!" Sasuke squeals happily when they come inside. Itachi heads to his room, while Sani sets down her bag, then scoops up Sasuke. He wraps his small arms around her neck as she carries him into the living room. Their mother and father are out of the house again, which angers her; Sasuke is only two years old and they're leaving without him, it both angers and sickens her. Itachi soon comes into the room,_

_"They left Sasuke by himself!" she says angrily, and Itachi's look turns furious. He checks all around the house to make sure, growling in anger when he finds nothing. Their mother and father have even started neglecting Sasuke some too, but they never thought it would get this bad, which makes Itachi and Sani worry. While Itachi keeps Sasuke in the living room, Sani having settled him on Itachi's lap when he had flopped onto the couch, Sani goes into the kitchen to make them something for dinner. Sasuke's eyes light up when Itachi takes off his new Hitai-ate, showing it to him. _

_***Flashback Ends***_

* * *

Later that afternoon, Sani watches as Sasuke throws his last two shuriken, landing them both perfectly along with the others. She smiles and hugs him.

"That was perfect Sasuke!" and he grins at her, returning the hug, and then sitting down with her as she puts out two bento boxes, opening them and giving him one of them and a pair of chopsticks. As the two of them eat their lunch, Sani sighs a bit as she remembers that she has to leave on a mission tomorrow. She and her squad are going to Sunagakure (Suna) for two weeks to assist the Kazekage and look after his children, among some other details. She sighs some, she doesn't want to leave Sasuke, and especially doesn't want to leave each Itachi, the two have become so close it's literally almost painful for them to be apart for lengths of time.

She decides as she eats, that she is going to ask her sensei if she can start bringing Sasuke to training sessions, and even on missions as well if she really needs to, she's tired of him being left alone at home. A few hours later, Sani comes back outside to where Sasuke is playing, as she had gone inside to dispose of their empty bentos and to get her kunais and shurikens for training. Sasuke runs over when he sees that she's getting ready, and he immediately starts to cry when he sees her strapping the holster onto her leg, knowing that it means she's going to be leaving.

"N-no, d-don't go a-away." He whispers, looking down as his shoulders tremble a bit, and Sani looks up at him, and she frowns. She then kneels down, ruffling his hair and then turning her back to him.

"Climb on, you're coming with me." She says softly. He wipes his eyes and nods, getting up onto her back, his arms around her neck and his little legs around her waist. She stands up, holding his legs securely, and takes off for her squad's training grounds. She can feel Sasuke clinging to her tightly as she runs, his tears making a wet spot on the back of her top. She sighs some, wishing he wasn't so sad. She notices that when she reaches the grounds that Sasuke clings to her tighter, obviously nervous about the new people he hasn't met. Luka-sensei sees her and he comes over as she lets Sasuke down onto the grass. He kneels down with them, frowning some when Sasuke moves closer to her side, sniffling a bit.

"Sani, why is he here?" Luka-sensei asks gently, concerned, seeing how sad Sasuke looks. She says softly,

"This is Sasuke, I brought him because…" and she softly explains what's going on with Sasuke and her family, to a point. Luka's eyes widen some, and then he nods and says,

"Of course you can bring him with you, and when he starts at the Academy you still can if you really need to." Sani nods at him, sighing in relief and thanking him. She sets Sasuke up with some of his shuriken and kunai at a target, and then she joins her squad. As she starts to spar with one of her teammates, Kiro, from the Aburame clan, the oldest on the squad and a bit of a prodigy to them, she remembers the very day that Itachi had activated his Sharingan for the first time. It had been both terrifying and exciting that day. Excitement at his new ability, bit terrifying at the way he activated it. She remembers it all very, VERY vividly.

* * *

_***Flashback Start – Two Years Ago***_

_"Tachi, I did it!" Sani squeals happily as she runs up to Itachi, seeing him waiting for her at the gates of the Academy. Itachi grins and hugs her tightly. She's just graduated from the Academy, and passed Luka sensei's bell test, the same final test as Itachi did last year. He's eight now, and she's seven, and Sasuke is now three. _

_Sani smiles as Itachi sets her down, and they start walking along their favorite path through the woods, around back of the village that leads to the Uchiha compound, heading again to their hot spring, their favorite place to relax, talking as they walk. The back path happens to be the longer way to the compound, and they prefer it because it gives them more time alone to just talk,, and they're hoping to avoid the gang of Uchiha hating bullies. Itachi's even more depressed and withdrawn lately due to the bullying and neglect from their parents, distant to everyone besides Sani and Sasuke these days. _

_They make it halfway to the spring, when they're suddenly ambushed by the gang. Sani is grabbed and pinned to the ground, while Itachi is jumped by the others. Usually they don't bother hurting Sani, just force her to watch what they do to Itachi. He does whatever they ask, not wanting to risk putting his best friend in danger, wanting to protect her. _

_Today ends up being different though. When they finish with Itachi, leaving him kneeling on the ground, they start on Sani. She tries to curl away from them and the raining blows, crying out at the ones that connect with areas of her body, her stomach, sides, back, and other places. Itachi pushes himself up into a sitting position and his eyes go wide when he sees them, almost all of them, attacking Sani the way they usually do him._

_"S-stop…" Itachi says hoarsely as she cries out in pain from a hard blow to the back. He slowly pushes his beaten body upright, swaying a little, and his eyes fill with angry tears when he sees Sani on the ground, trying not to cry out as she tries to protect herself. His hands clench into fists as his eyes narrow in anger. _

_"Leave her alone!" he says, trying to sound confident. The boys ignore her and continue their attack on Sani, but when Sani cries out again, Itachi's rage grows, making him tremble, his nails actually digging into his palms enough to draw a small bit of blood._

_"I said leave her alone!" he yells furiously, and when everyone looks up at him, the boys are shocked to see Itachi's eyes are no longer obsidian, but crimson red. Some of the boys utter yelps of shock and scatter away at the unexpected sight, but the leader growls and doubles back and attacks Itachi, using both Taijutsu and attempting Genjutsu as well, and it's like Itachi can predict and counter every move he makes, every attack he tries to land. The boy eventually gives up and takes off, and then Itachi's eyes slowly return to obsidian as he watches the boy go, before he turns and helps Sani up from the ground. _

_They walk to the hot springs, undressing and lowering their battered and bruised bodies into the soothing hot water. Itachi curls into her side, furious with himself for not being able to protect her. Sani wraps her arms around him, trying to offer comfort, this is the worst that yet that he has broken down. _

_Itachi ends up crying himself to sleep beside her, physically and also emotionally exhausted. Sani watches him, she's extremely worried about how depressed he has become. Their parents neglect him so badly; they do her too, except when it comes down to their talents that is. They do Sasuke too, though not as badly. Sani has actually pretty much taken over Sasuke's training and Itachi helps her. She watches Itachi sleep, very worried about him. Seeing him so vulnerable tears her up inside. He's curled as close as he can get to her side, his head on her shoulder, pale cheeks stained with tears, and trembling some too. Sani gently runs her hand up and down his back in a soothing motion, wishing she could take away all of his pain and suffering. She then also remembers Sasuke, and realizes he might be by himself again, which makes her worry. After a bit, she shakes him awake gently._

_"Tachi-kun, come on, we need to get home to Sasuke." She says softly, smoothing his bangs out of his eyes. He lifts his head and looks at her, and his expression just breaks her heart, he just wants to be loved by their parents and not pressured for his talents. She gently kisses his forehead and gives him a comforting hug, and then they get out of the spring and head home, stopping at Mrs. Haruno's on the way for treatment._

_When they get home, there's only one light out, which confuses them. Their parents went to a party and Sasuke should have been at their aunts. Sani goes to pull the shoji screen open, when we hear what we realize is terrified crying._

_"He's alone again!" Itachi hisses angrily. She pulls the shoji open and they hurry inside the house, and they follow the crying to the back room._

_"Sasuke?" Sani calls worriedly, looking for him. Using his new Sharingan to look for his chakra, Itachi quickly finds him hiding inside a cupboard in the back room, and opens the door._

_"Aniki!" the boy cries, launching himself right at Itachi and holding onto him tightly. He hugs Sasuke close, trying to comfort his distraught otouto. He looks up as Sani comes over, running her fingers through Sasuke's dark hair softly. _

_"Hey there, Chibi." Sani says gently. He lifts his head from Itachi's shoulder,_

_"Nishu…" he whispers tearfully. She smiles and kisses the top of his head, and then he burrows back into Itachi's shoulder. Sani puts their stuff away, while Itachi takes Sasuke into the living room to try and calm him down. Sani then fixes a cup of warm milk, knowing that it helps Sasuke to relax. She goes into the living room with the cup, sitting down beside Itachi, who's rubbing his brother's back now._

_"Sasuke," she says softly, "I brought you something." He lifts his head, wiping his eyes and sitting up in Itachi's lap. Sani smiles softly and gives him the glass. Itachi wraps a blanket around him as he slowly drinks the milk. She takes the glass when he's done, setting it down on the table as Sasuke crawls into her lap and curls up. Itachi fixes the blanket back around Sasuke, who's now falling asleep. Itachi and Sani look up later as they hear the shoji slam open, their parents are back. Sani says,_

_"Tou-san, look what Tachi can do!" Itachi activates his new level two Sharingan as their father turns around and his eyes widen. Their parents start congratulating Itachi and praising him. Sani leans in and kisses Itachi's cheek, and then she slips out and off to her room. Sasuke asleep in her arms, she lays him down on her bed, then she sits down beside it. Itachi comes in after a bit, looking dejected. Sani can just tell by his expression that their parents once again proved they only seem to care about his abilities, and not about him. He drops down beside her, and she wraps an arm around him a loving and comforting hug, He snuggles into her side, closing his eyes. She pulls a warm blanket around the two of them as Itachi drifts to __sleep, a tear slipping down his cheek._

_***Flashback Ends***_

* * *

Sani ducks a swing from Kiro and counters with a drop kick, remembering how they had sent the summon crow to Madara immediately after they had put Sasuke to bed, and he came the next day to see Itachi's Sharingan and to talk to them and train them some. She also finds herself remembering when she awakened her own Sharingan as well.

* * *

_***Flashback Start – One Year Ago***_

"_Man that was tiring." Sani says with a laugh as she and Itachi walk back from the mission's office in the Academy, both their squads had just returned from missions and their sensei's had filed their reports at the same time. Itachi laughs and nods as well, the two of them are heading to their favorite Dango shop, wanting to get a snack for the walk home, and also to pick up Sasuke from Sakura's place where her mother had been babysitting him. As they pass Ichiraku Ramen's, they smile when they see Naruto happily slurping a bowl. Old Teuchi, who owns the stall, and his daughter Ayame, are some of the only few who treat Naruto the way he should be treated, they don't pick on him or look down on him or anything like that. Naruto sees them and he grins and waves as they walk by, smiling as they wave back._

"_He looks like he's enjoying himself." Itachi says as they watch Naruto a moment more. Sani nods, linking her arm with Itachi's as the two of them continue on to the Dango stand. Both of them laugh when they see Anko already there ordering dango, she has a well known sweet tooth, and can often be found here. She laughs too, waving and calling them over._

"_Just get back?" she asks, and Itachi and Sani both nod. Sani places their order while Itachi and Anko talk, both sitting down at a small table set near the stand. Sani soon joins them as they all wait for their orders. _

"_How have you been?" Sani asks, and Anko nods, leaning back against the wall behind the seat of the table._

"_Good, been busy. As a Chunin they want me to start proctoring the Chunin Exams." Itachi and Sani both gasp and then smile._

"_That would be cool; it would be interesting to take the exam under you." Itachi says, and Anko nods and smiles, seeing Sani nod as well._

"_Hai, I think I'm going to go for it." She says, and they nod. She then says with a laugh,_

"_I promise not to be __**too**__ hard on you." And Itachi and Sani both laugh at her tone as well. The orders are soon called; the three youths get up and accept their orders, paying for them. Sani and Itachi say goodbye to Anko, heading toward the Haruno's house, while Anko heads to her own home. They smile when they see Sakura and Sasuke playing outside, Mrs. Haruno settled in a porch chair as she watches them. _

"_Ah, Itachi-san, Sani-san, Konichiha." She says with a smile when they come over, and Itachi and say nod and smile as well._

"_Konichiha, Mrs. Haruno. How was Sasuke today?" Sani asks, and the woman smiles,_

"_He and Sakura had plenty of fun. May he come back again?" and Itachi nods._

"_Hai, of course, as long as Kaa-san and Tou-san allow him to." And she nods, calling the kids over while she goes inside to get Sasuke's backpack. Itachi and Sani smile and hug Sasuke when he hugs them, saying hello to Sakura as well. They thank Mrs. Haruno when she comes back out with the backpack and Sasuke waves to Sakura as they head off down the road, heading for their usual path back to the compound. They're talking and laughing some, though they keep their guard up too as they walk, smiling as Sasuke chatters happily about his day at Sakura's. Sani smiles as Sasuke picks a couple of little red flowers he sees, giving one to her and one to Itachi, and they both smile and ruffle his hair._

"_Arigatou, Sasuke." They both say, and he grins and continues walking with them happily. The trip goes relatively calmly, Sasuke is now being carried by Sani and is almost asleep, when the boys suddenly appear, though they seem hesitant at first when they see the small child Sani is carrying. Sasuke groans sleepily, and opens his eyes when the boys rush at Itachi, he'd heard them. Sani gasps, gently covering his eyes, so that he won't see them hurting his brother. She sets him down, turning him away from the fight and telling him, _

"_Chibi I need you to go and hide in those bushes, okay? Keep your eyes covered and don't let anyone find you." He nods and takes off, scared but wanting to show Sani he knows to do what she told him. Once she sees he's hidden, she turns back and tries to stop one boy from punching Itachi, but he throws her to the ground. She yelps as her arm connects with a rock in the road, and then pushes herself back up._

"_Stop it!" she yells, and Itachi activates his Sharingan, but to their surprise, the boys seem to know to avoid his eyes, watching his body language instead. He tries to catch them in some of his Genjutsu that Madara has taught them, but with them diligently avoiding eye contact he is unable to. Sani manages to land a kick to one boy's side, making him let go of Itachi, and she makes her way to him, the two of them now back to back, circled by the boys. They defend as best as they can, but hits still get landed on them. Sani clenches her fists, not wanting to see Itachi take so much abuse for her again, and she feels her anger building, but suddenly they hear a startled squeak, and look over to see the leader of the boys holding Sasuke up in front of him by the back of his shirt, the little boy still covering his eyes in fright. Itachi and Sani both gasp, their eyes narrowing angrily._

"_Don't you dare to lay a hand on him!" Itachi snarls, his crimson eyes narrowing dangerously, glaring at the boy. The leader, they've learned his name is Soka, sneers at them, raising up a hand as if to strike Sasuke, and Sani looks down, snarling angrily,_

"_Touch him and you die!" and when she looks back up, Itachi and the others are shocked to see her eyes are now crimson red as well, but different from Itachi's. Instead of the two black tomoes he has, hers is a small circle in the middle with one blade, like a pinwheel blade shape out from it, almost a one bladed pinwheel._

"_W-what the..!" Soka says, dropping Sasuke back to the ground, the boys again try to attack Sani and Itachi, but they predict the moves, countering and blocking. Like back when Itachi activated his Sharingan, the boys soon scatter, unsettled at the new development, but Soka makes one more attempt at attacking, only to be blocked by both Sani and Itachi. He gives up shortly after as well, and Sani and Itachi make their way over to Sasuke, hugging him._

"_They're gone now, otouto." Itachi says, lifting Sasuke into his arms, who uncovers his eyes and looks around, relieved._

"_Nishu? Why are your eyes red?" he asks, and Sani says softly,_

"_I'm not sure, I think it might be a Sharingan, but don't tell Tou-san, okay?" Sasuke nods as she picks up his little backpack from the ground and they continue home. Once there Sani and Itachi again head to their hot springs, this time letting Sasuke come with them. He's only with them about half an hour when their mother comes out to see if he's with them, taking him in to bed. Sani and Itachi then curl up after she leaves, talking softly together about today's new development. They don't really cry this time though; they're starting to get to the point where the bullying is making them more feeling numb than anything else. They still only talk about it to each other though. _

_After they dry off and head back to the house, they settle on her bed, and Itachi performs the hand signs and summons Madara's crow. Sani writes down her message about what happened today, describing how her eyes looked as Itachi gives his point of view from seeing them, and then they send the bird off. _

_The next morning while they're in training, their mother running errands with Sasuke and their father at work, Madara arrives, asking to see Sani's new eyes. She nods and shows him, and he gasps a bit._

"_An unusual Sharingan indeed," he says, "I believe now is the time to begin training you to use your new eyes." They nod, and Shisui soon arrives as well, and Itachi activates his own Sharingan. Madara chuckles at Shisui's reaction to seeing two pairs of Sharingan, and then he studies Sani's eyes, and then declares,_

"_Cool!" This makes them all laugh. They soon begin their training, Madara telling him that he's very impressed with her Sharingan, just like he was with Itachi's, and Shisui says,_

"_I can't wait to activate mine." And Madara nods._

"_I suspect that will be soon enough." He says, and Shisui nods and smiles, the three of them continuing to train. _

_***End Flashback***_

* * *

Sani turns her attention back to the spar with Kiro, which soon ends in a tie, and they go back over to the targets for a break. As they approach the target area, Sani notices that Sasuke is not throwing any shuriken, but was intently watching their spar. She smirks as he attacks her, and she blocks his moves effortlessly, but his punches and kicks are very well aimed, as well as his blocks being very well timed, his movements fluid and precise.

"I see Itachi has started you in Taijutsu." Sani observes, and Sasuke grins and nods, bouncing a bit happily on his heels as she ruffles his hair. Sani lets a smile grace her lips, and then she attacks Sasuke, though not at her full force, but just enough to make him really move. She's very impressed at how well he blocks, dodges and counters. She soon stops, smiling, and says,

"Very good Sasuke, I am very impressed." She says, and his eyes light up. Her sensei then sits them down for their break, telling her squad that they leave on their mission to Suna in three days now, instead of one, and so because of that they have some time to relax until then. Sani and her squad discuss the details of the mission for a while, and what time to meet at the gate in three days, and then they pack up, saying their goodbyes and heading off.

Sasuke also packs up his weapons, and he and Sani head back home, chatting some as they walk, talking a little about when she's going to be leaving, and also about how much they miss Itachi, and how they wonder how he's doing in the second stage of the exam.

Three days, that means she'll be able to see Itachi before they leave, they, because she'll be bringing Sasuke with her to Suna. She and Sasuke arrive home, greeting their parents and going to their rooms to change, and then washing up for supper. They sit at the table, listening some as their father talks about his day at work to their mother while they eat, but their minds are more on Itachi and how he's doing, hoping he's doing well.

After dinner Sani helps their mother with the dishes, and then she and Sasuke head back out to sit on the porch, sipping some hot cocoa as they look at the stars, Sani smiling and showing him some constellations she knows, both of them unaware that the same person they're both thinking of, is looking up at the same stars, missing them as much as they miss him.

* * *

**Well there it is, the new and improved chapter review and tell me what you think. :)**

**Sani. **


	5. Suna, Two Protective Siblings & Maladies

**Well here we are. The first half of the Suna mission, and the introduction to our favorite redhead! LOL. I hope everyone enjoys it. Please review and tell me what you think. :) Thank you again for reviewing, it makes my day! You guys are awesome.**

"Blah" - Talking

'Blah' - Thinking

**Disclaimer: **Same as usual, don't own. Don't I wish though? :P

* * *

A couple of days later, Sani is outside in the training yard again with Sasuke. They're working on Taijutsu, when they notice as someone comes walking across the yard toward where they are. The person pushes back the hood of their cloak, black hair spilling out and around his face. Sani and Sasuke both smile,

"Tachi-kun!" She calls happily, running over and pulling him into a tight hug. Sasuke hugs him too from the side, where he's standing. Itachi hugs Sasuke back, and then Sani, hiding his face in her shoulder for a minute, trembling a little; he'd missed her and Sasuke so much. He then kisses her forehead and ruffles Sasuke's hair.

"How did you do on the test, Aniki?" Sasuke asks as they sit down, and Sani wraps an arm around Itachi as he rests his head on her shoulder, sighing tiredly as he nuzzles her shoulder a moment, and then looks back at them again. He takes a breath, and then says,

"We passed the second stage." Sani smiles and hugs him again, kissing his cheek, which makes his turn slightly pink.

"Oh Tachi, we're so proud of you!" She says, and Sasuke nods his agreement. Itachi's eyes begin to sting somewhat, no one has ever truly told him they're at all proud of him, of who he is and not just what he can do, that is except for Sani and Sasuke. Sasuke hugs him again too, and then crawls onto his lap. Itachi rests his head back onto Sani's shoulder, after wrapping his other arm around Sasuke, and she says softly,

"Tachi, my squad and I… we leave for Suna tomorrow." He nods a bit, his eyes saddening some, and then she adds, rubbing his side some,

"Sensei has given me permission to bring Sasuke along." Itachi's eyes widen, and then he nods again. He's quiet; he knows this will be best for Sasuke, since he will be very busy with training for the third stage of the exam, and this way Sasuke will not risk being left on his own again, however, this also means he'll be pretty much alone for however long her mission takes, without her or Sasuke to keep him going.

They remain there by the tree at the edge of the training grounds, sitting together and talking about the exam, about her mission, and anything really. Sasuke is excited to go, but at the same time he's sad to be leaving his aniki behind, knowing he's going to miss him a lot. Sasuke also knows how much Sani and Itachi will miss each other as well. He chews his lip as he sees them talking softly, their eyes sad, wishing he could make them both happy.

Itachi ends up sleeping in Sani's room that night, already dreading the time he has to spend without her and Sasuke. He ends up laying awake, watching them sleep, as Sasuke had made his way in here with them not long ago as well, and is now snuggled into Sani's other side. He sighs, toying with a lock of her hair as she sleeps.

"I'm going to miss you both so much, it already hurts." He whispers, sighing some as a single tear sneaks down his pale cheek.

The next morning, Sani wakes up to find both brothers curled against her, and she hugs them both, kissing their temples gently. She gazes out the window as they sleep, seeing the sun is already peeking over the trees. With a soft sigh she carefully gets up, first going over to Sasuke's room to pack his backpack, putting in some clothes and necessities, his training kit, and also his favorite stuffed bunny she and Itachi had given him for his third birthday. When she's finished, she heads back to her room, setting the backpack by her bed, glancing at the two brothers as she begins with her own pack.

Luka sensei had offered for him and her squad mates to help carry her and Sasuke's packs, in exchange for her carrying a concealed pack of secret documents between herself and Sasuke when she carries him on her back, and she had agreed. She packs everything she needs, and then she sits on the edge of the bed, sighing as she watches Itachi and Sasuke. She doesn't want to leave Itachi alone, but she also knows how important this mission is. She sighs some, leaning over and gently shaking them awake when she's done packing.

"Tachi, Sasuke… time to get up." She says, and both of them groan as they stir awake, Itachi shielding his eyes from the sun, and Sasuke yawns adorably, rubbing his eyes. After some of both grumbling and stretching, both brothers are now more awake and dressed, and Mikoto brings them breakfast on the porch where they've now settled. They thank her, and they start to eat, talking softly together. Right as they're finishing, Luka sensei and Sani's teammates all arrive, walking across the grounds to the house. Sani smiles some as she greets them, but she can't quite hide the sadness in her eyes. Sasuke hugs their parents, and she says goodbye to them as well, and then she and Itachi step off alone for a moment.

"Will you really be alright?" she asks, hugging him, and he says softly,

"I'll try to be, but I know how much I'm going to miss you while you're gone." She sighs some, nodding, knowing how much she's going to miss him as well. They stay there for a few silent minutes, and when Sani leans up to kiss his cheek, he turns his head slightly, which causes her lips to brush the corner of his mouth, making them both gasp and blush. They're shocked at the feeling.

"Be careful, alright?" Itachi whispers, and she nods, rubbing his side as he nuzzles into her shoulder for a moment. Thankfully no one else has noticed them, and they soon make their way back over to Sani's waiting squad.

Itachi hugs her tightly once more, after hugging Sasuke, whispering in her ear again to be very careful, and how much he'll miss her. Sani gently kisses his cheek, and then lifts Sasuke onto her back, their smaller pack hidden between them, and she heads over to her squad and sensei. Itachi watches them head off, sadness and deep loneliness are welling inside him, as he feels that her and Sasuke are the only ones that can make and keep him happy these days, that they're his rock, what keeps him going.

Sani and the others soon arrive at her team's usual meeting spot, and her sensei makes sure they're all ready. He then pulls some very important documents out of a hiding spot and he slips them into the pack she has concealed between herself and Sasuke, and then they head for Suna.

* * *

A few days later, Sani and her team have arrived in Suna, and they're now settled at their guest house, after having met up with the Kazekage upon their arrival in the hidden village. The trip itself took three days, and then the last day was spent in meetings with the Kazekage and other officials about the mission, people they will be interacting with and other important things. The only ones they have yet to meet are the Kazekage's three young children.

They have the day off today, so that everyone can get used to the surroundings they're going to be working in and to recover from the tiring trip. Luka sensei is doing some diplomatic stuff, while Sani and her teammates have the job of looking after and guarding the Kazekage's three children, which starts tomorrow.

Sani decides to use today to go exploring in the village, and she decides to bring Sasuke along with her, knowing he's a bit restless from the trip and also very curious about the new village surroundings as well. He hangs onto her hand as they make their way through Suna's busy streets, looking in shops and market stalls, and just wandering around. They end up having lunch at a small outdoor café, before continuing their exploring.

Sasuke sees a small gathering of kids soon after, and being the curious five year old he is, he tugs Sani's hand, pulling her toward them. They're gathered in a circle, and as they get closer to the group, her eyes widen when she hears,

"You Freak! You don't belong here!" being shouted cruelly at the middle of the circle. Sasuke's eyes widen too at the harsh words, he's heard them shouted before, at his playground friend, Naruto, back in Konoha.

"Make 'em stop Nishu!" Sasuke begs her, onyx eyes wide and tearful. Sani walks toward the kids, Sasuke still clinging to her hand, and she keeps him slightly behind her, wary of these kids. As they get closer, they see a small redheaded boy, clutching a teddy bear and covered in dirt, cowering on the ground in the middle of the circle, crying and shaking, begging them to leave him alone. Sani frowns in concern and anger. She also notices how sand is quivering around the boy, raised up from the ground almost as if it's protecting him.

"You'll scatter if you know what's good for you!" Sani tells the kids warningly, and they all look up. When they see her Hitai-ate marking her as a visiting shinobi, they all take off. Sani then kneels down beside the cowering boy, watching him worriedly.

"It's alright, they're gone now." She says gently, kneeling down, and the boy looks up, his soft greenish blue eyes are wide and terrified, but the sand that was quivering around him drops to the ground, he looks so scared. Sani reaches out, gently brushing a smear of dirt off one of his pale, tear stained cheeks. The boy's eyes remain wide; he looks startled that she hasn't tried to strike him yet, which breaks her heart.

"What's your name?" She asks, gently brushing away his tears with her thumbs, as Sasuke crouches down beside them, watching with curious interest.

"G-Gaara…" he whispers, giving Sasuke a nervous look. Sasuke grins, saying,

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha." Sani can't help smirking,

"My otouto, don't worry, he won't hurt you." Gaara nods, watching them both with hesitant curiosity, no one aside from his siblings has ever been nice to him before. Sani smiles some as the boy begins to relax, talking with them and not looking quite as pale or frightened as he did before, as they settle there on the path to talk a bit. Sasuke kneels down too, beginning to ask a few questions as well.

Gaara tells her that he's five, which is Sasuke's age, and her eyes widen, he's small for his age. Seeing the streets getting busier, she turns to let Gaara climb onto her back, and they walk to the edge of the village, where she had seen a quiet park, Sasuke trotting happily beside her. When they stop, Sani kneels down so Gaara can climb down, but he's crying and clinging to her, afraid all over again, because of the looks that the villagers had been giving him as they walked.

"Gaara," she says softly, "I can't help you back there." He sniffles and lets go of her, and when he moves out in front of her, she gently sits him on her lap, where he curls up, crying into her chest, overwhelmed that someone cares enough to help him, other than his two older siblings. Sasuke sits down beside them, watching as Sani comforts Gaara. She finally gets him calmed down quite a bit, and he and Sasuke start to play together.

She sits back, smiling some as she quietly watches them as they laugh and play. Before too long, another boy and a girl come over. The girl has sand blond hair done up in four pigtails, and the boy looks a fair bit like Gaara, but older and with darker hair. They also look surprised as they walk over, eyes on the redheaded boy playing happily with Sasuke, making swirls with the sand, while his teddy bear sits on Sani's lap safely.

"Why so surprised?" She asks softly when they come closer. The girl says,

"Someone's… actually is playing with Gaara, and he's… happy." Sani frowns,

"My otouto, Sasuke, are you… saying he shouldn't?" she asks, getting a little concerned, but the boy says,

"No, no… it's nothing like that. It's just; no one has ever been nice to Gaara before, besides us." Sani nods, sad for the boy, he's so alone, just like Naruto back home. The other two tell Sani that their names are Temari and Kankuro, but they don't say very much else. Sani nods as they sit down with her, watching their brother and Sasuke.

"I'm Sanishu." She tells them, and they nod. They talk together some, watching Sasuke and Gaara laughing and playing together. Gaara is doing little tricks with the sand now as well as making it swirl around, and he has Sasuke squealing in laughter and glee each time. They're having a great time.

"Can… we play again?" Gaara asks shyly as Sasuke takes Sani's hand when she tells them it's time to head back to the house they're staying at. Temari and Kankuro both nod and smile as he watches Sani eagerly, waiting for her answer.

"Of course you can." She says softly, with a smile, handing him his teddy bear as she ruffles his hair. He nods, heading off with Temari and Kankuro. Sani and Sasuke make their way back to the house. When they get there, Sani greets her squad, and after she sits Sasuke down to eat his dinner, she tells her sensei about Gaara, Temari and Kankuro, and he says they're the Kazekage's kids. Luka sensei then takes the squad aside while Sasuke eats, and briefs them on the rest of their mission.

That night, as Sani's tucking Sasuke into bed in the sleeping mat set up beside hers, he says,

"I miss Tachi." And he hugs his stuffed bunny to his chest. Sani says softly,

"I know little one, I miss him too." She gives Sasuke a hug, and then kisses his cheek as he snuggles down in the blankets, closing his onyx eyes.

"I miss you so much." Sani whispers to herself as she crawls into bed, staring out at the small crescent moon. She curls up and soon drifts to sleep, missing Itachi like crazy.

* * *

About five days later, they've been in Suna for a week now, and their missions are going very well, well Luka's separate one from theirs. Sasuke and Gaara have become the best of friends; they always play together when she's not working on some other parts of the mission. Gaara is becoming quite attached to Sani as well, as she protects him from the bullying kids. They're currently at a park with the three kids, her team mates, Kiro and Sola are out in the market to replenish their groceries at the house, while Sani is on duty with the children today. Right now she's watching Kankuro practice with a small puppet, laughing as Sasuke and Gaara watch it intently, laughing at its antics. Temari is at a friend's place, which is near the market's edge so Sola goes to check on her frequently.

"Nishu look at this!" Sasuke calls as Kankuro makes the puppet dance, laughing as his brother and Sasuke both squeal happily. Sani smiles, settled against a tree as she watches, but senses on alert for any danger or unknown chakra signatures that may approach. She leans her head back some, Gaara's teddy bear is sitting on her knee, almost as if it's watching as well. Soon a familiar figure approaches, and Sani nods at him, it's the kids' oji-san, Yashamaru. He smiles at them playing, and he goes over to a picnic table, unaware that Sani has noticed the way he stares at Gaara a moment longer than usual. He then proceeds to lay out lunch on the table's surface, and Sani gets up, stretching.

"Alright kids, time for lunch." They nod, and Gaara grins when he sees Yashamaru, and takes off for the man, hugging him around the legs.

"Lord Gaara." He says with a smile, ruffling the boy's red hair. Kankuro and Sasuke follow him and greet Yashamaru as well, though Sasuke is merely polite, and Kankuro does not hug him as Gaara did. They sit down; Sani and Yashamaru talking some while the kids eat, and Temari soon arrives with her friend as well, and they join them at the table too.

As they eat, Yashamaru frowns a little, noticing that the one shinobi, Sani, keeps gazing up at the sky like she's thinking, often letting herself zone out, as she has a few times, though even with that she is still able to protect them perfectly. He sighs, wondering what could be causing her such distraction and sadness, as he's seen it in her eyes several times.

That night after the kids are in bed, and before the Konoha squad leaves for the night to head to the stay house, Yashamaru asks Luka if he can talk to him a moment.

"Is Sani-san alright? I keep seeing her looking rather sad and distant." Luka frowns some, and chews his lip, saying softly,

"She had to leave her best friend back home. They're inseparable and very close, so being this far apart is hard for her, for both of them." Yashamaru nods, watching the three youths at the door, waiting for their sensei, the sleeping little Uchiha on Sani's back.

"Sani, are you okay?" Luka asks as they head back to the house not long after. Sani sighs and looks down a bit, hair falling into her eyes.

"I just… I miss him so much." Luka nods, frowning a little at the slight waver in her voice. He lays a hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She looks up at him and nods, as she adjusts Sasuke on her back, careful not to wake the sleeping boy. Luka decides to keep an eye on Sani for the remainder of the mission, worried about her. They soon arrive back at the house, and Sani retreats to her room, putting Sasuke to bed, and then changing and settling by the window, gazing out at the stars. She sighs some, resting her chin on her hand, looking at the stars and thinking of Itachi. She soon heads to bed, but as she falls asleep, she fails to notice the raven arrive, and it settles on the corner of her pillow, going to sleep for the night.

The next morning, Sani groans and turns over, her eyes flickering open, and she finds herself face to face with a raven. Her eyes widen, and then she smiles, sitting up and taking it on her hand. The raven settles on her wrist, looking up at her and blinking serenely, and then it holds out a leg, opening its talons and dropping a small folded paper into her hand. The raven bends its head and nips her hand affectionately, and then flies out the window. She smiles slightly as she unfolds the paper, her eyes lighting up when she sees it's a note for her and Sasuke, from Itachi. She reads over the note, and then smiles as Sasuke yawns sleepily, rubbing his eyes to rid them of sleep, and then crawling onto her lap and curling up, and she reads Itachi's note to him.

_Sani __& __Sasuke,_

_I __hope __this __finds __you __well. __I __miss __you __both __so __much __it __drives __me __crazy. __Mikai- sense __even __said __I __look __distracted, __I __actually __missed __the __target __yesterday, __twice! __It __drove __me __so __nuts __too. __There__'__s __my __perfectionist __side __coming __out __again, __oi. __I __just __want __to __curl __up __with __you __at __night, __that__'__s __when __it__'__s __the __loneliest, __when __I __go __to __sleep, __that __and __also __our __hot __springs, __which __I __have __actually __been __lately __staying __away __from, __it __doesn__'__t __feel __right __to __go __in __them __without __you. __Training __is __no __fun __also __without __you __and __Sasuke. __I __am __holding __out __the __best __I __can __until __you __return, __but __until __then __know __how __much __I __love __you __both._

_Otouto, __you __be __good __for __Sani, __al right? __I __promise __to __teach __you __a __new __jutsu __when __you __get __home, __but __you __need __to __be __good __and __listen, __and __keep __up __your __training. __Ji-san __and __Ba-chan __told __me __to __say __hello __as __well, __as __does __Shisui __and __Kakashi, __they __miss __you __too __kid. __Love __you __Sasuke, __from __your __Aniki._

_Sani, __I __can__'__t __describe __how __much __being __apart __hurts. __It__'__s __like __part __of __me __is __missing, __and __I __have __no __doubt __it __feels __the __same __for __you. __We __may __be __young, __but __we __have __something __special, __I__'__m __so __sure __of __it. __Come __back __safe, __you __and __Sauske __both. __Love __you,_

_Your __Tachi._

Sani smiles a bit, ruffling Sasuke's hair as he holds the note, wiping his eyes a bit. She tucks it into her pocket when he hands it back, and they get dressed and head to the dining room for breakfast. Sani and her team are taking the Kazekage's kids training today, and Sani wants to try something with Gaara. She's seen how the sand moves around him, as if it wants to shield him, so she wants to try and see if she can help him learn to control the sand himself as a way to protect himself.

They finish eating and head to the door after putting their dishes in the sink, and they pull on their sandals, heading out. When they arrive at the house, Yashamaru greets them outside, he tells them the kids are just finishing breakfast and will be out shortly. Sani nods, she and her team settling outside to practice a few things while they wait.

"Nishu!" Gaara cries happily when they come outside, running ahead of his siblings. Sani gets up and smiles, hugging him when he grabs a hold of her. He grins, hugging her, and he greets Sasuke with a smile and a hug as well. Kiro tells Kankuro and Temari to get their training kits, and Kankuro the puppet he's working with, and when they do, they head to the training yard not far from the house. Once there, Temari joins up with a friend, and they go off to one side of the yard with Sola, and Kiro takes Kankuro to another part of the yard, leaving Sani with Gaara and Sasuke. They sit on the grass, and Sani says softly,

"Gaara, you remember how the sand around you moves when you're scared or upset?" Gaara frowns a bit, but then nods, his aqua eyes curious, and Sani smiles at his eagerness.

"Would you like to try and see if you can learn to make it protect you when you want it to, or when you need it to?" Gaara grins and nods and Sani can't help chuckling at his enthusiasm to the idea. Sasuke grins too, asking,

"Can I help nee-chan?" and Sani smiles, nodding, and she begins to explain her idea to the two kids.

* * *

"Itachi! You okay? You aren't focusing again." Mikai says, stopping the exercise her genins are working on, frowning at the young Uchiha, who's distracted again. Itachi startles and turns to look at her, his dark eyes apologetic, but also sad. Mikai frowns, going over and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Itachi, are you alright?" she asks, and he sighs, saying,

"I just… I miss Sani and Sasuke so much…" Mikai nods sympathetically. She says,

"I understand, are you feeling alright to continue? Or would you like to go home for the day to just rest?" Itachi looks up at her, asking quietly,

"May I?" and she nods, giving his shoulder a squeeze,

"Of course, just rest and send me a note later to let me know how you're doing." Itachi nods and thanks her, gathering his weapons and things. He says goodbye to his teammates, and he heads back towards his home, wishing Sani would be there to greet him, that Sasuke would be there to give him one of his hugs. Itachi sighs, staring at the ground as he walks, so lost in thought he doesn't hear the gang until it's too late. They surround him, but luckily, using a fire jutsu as a screen, he's able to get away from them fairly quick, and he runs home, heading to the house and inside, right to Sani's room. He changes and showers, and crawls underneath the covers of her bed and curls up, wishing she and Sasuke would come home tomorrow, and not a week from now or however long her mission has left. He sighs, turning onto his back and looking up at the ceiling. He hasn't told his parents, but when he woke up this morning he was not feeling well at all, he still isn't. He pulls one of the pillows over, hiding his face in it and curling up, drifting into a troubled sleep.

Later that day when he wakes up, he's feeling worse, way worse, his head is pounding, and he feels so sick he doesn't even want to move. His throat is dry though, so he wanders down to the kitchen for a glass of water, and then going outside with it, sipping it slowly as he sits on a stone bench in the back yard. He soon sets the glass beside him, putting his head in his hands and groaning, the water just made him feel worse. He looks around, spotting one of the older metal pails his mother uses for watering the plants by the back deck, and uses his foot to pick it up by the handle, bringing it over and setting it on his lap, his stomach rolling worse and worse. With his eyes tearing up some, Itachi whimpers, hunching over the pail as his stomach violently forces the bit of water he drank back out into the pail, heaving so hard it hurts. Tears begin rolling down his cheeks as he heaves, his whole body shaking from it, and this is how his parents find him moments later, still hunched over the pail, but dry heaving now, shaking with how hard his body is heaving, making him expel only bile. Mikoto and Fugaku run over to him, worried. Mikoto lays her hand against his forehead and frowns,

"He's warm, Fugaku. Let's get him to bed." Fugaku nods, gently lifting his son into his arms and taking him inside, helping him change into pajamas while Mikoto makes some ginger tea, and he lays Itachi in Sani's room, where he curls under the covers. Fugaku rinses the pail and sets it by the bed. Once he's settled, Fugaku summons two messenger hawks, sending one to Mikai and the other to the Uchiha clan medic, wanting Itachi to just be checked out. Mikoto comes back soon after with the tea, sitting with Itachi and encouraging him to take a few sips. Itachi curls back up under the blanket after, and Mikoto uses some gentle chakra to soothe him to sleep so he can rest. Mikoto sighs some,

"I didn't know they were that close, that being apart would do this." She says, and Fugaku nods too, sighing some in frustration, not knowing what he should do. Mikoto throws Itachi's clothes into the wash, and Fugaku answers the door a few minutes later when the medic gets there. He leads the medic back to the bedroom, standing back while he checks Itachi.

"Has he been under stress lately?" the medic asks, checking Itachi's vitals. Fugaku had told him in the note how they found Itachi in the backyard. Fugaku says,

"His best friend is on a mission, and they're very close, his little brother went with her, and also sometimes when they come home and go to the hot springs I've seen unusual bruises on his chest, back and arms." The medic frowns, nodding, he knows what Fugaku is talking about as he's good friends with Mrs. Haruno, and she's told him about some of the times the kids had come to her for treatment after he'd been there once when they arrived, and they had told him not to tell anyone, begged him not to actually. He nods, listening to Itachi's breathing and heart rate, and he says,

"I see. Keep him in bed for a few days and encourage him to try to eat and drink, we can't let him get dehydrated. I believe its stress related, but I will know more after I run some blood samples at the hospital. If anything changes or worsens though, contact me immediately." He says as he draws some blood from Itachi's arm, and then puts it in his medical bag. Fugaku nods and shakes his hand after, thanking him and showing him out of the house when he's done. Itachi remains asleep, and Mikoto checks on him again before her and Fugaku head to the living room.

The next day Itachi is still sick; he can't keep anything down, and can barely keep sips of tea down either. Mikoto has started putting cold cloths over his forehead because of the fever, and she's getting worried. Right now he's sleeping again, still in Sani's room as that's where he wants to stay.

"I didn't know stress could make someone this sick." She says quietly, smoothing some of his hair away from his eyes. Fugaku is at work, but he too is concerned. Itachi turns onto his side, the blanket pulled over his head as he groans softly. Mikoto frowns, gently pulling the blanket off his head, not wanting him to overheat himself. She soon gets up, heading into the kitchen to make herself some lunch, and some broth for Itachi for when she tries to get him to take in some fluids again. She then heads from the room to start on some of the cleaning for the day.

In the bedroom, Itachi soon stirs awake, curling onto his side and gazing out the window sadly and thinking about Sani and Sasuke. He sighs, closing his eyes again as a tear rolls down. He doesn't remember ever having felt so horrible or lonely in his life. He pulls the blankets up and over his head, curling a bit tighter, sniffling sadly a little as he tries to sleep, and trying not to think about how lonely he is. When Mikoto checks on him later he's asleep again, the blankets pulled up over his head. She sighs some, knowing Sani's mission will take at least a week or so more, so there's nothing else she can really do. She checks his fever again, after pulling the blankets down gently, and lays a cool cloth on his forehead.

* * *

In Suna, Sani smiles as Gaara succeeds in lifting the sand in a semi circle around him, almost like a shield. Sasuke grins too, which makes Gaara smile as well. As they all head back to the house for dinner, Sani pauses and frowns a bit, feeling like something's not right. She chews her lip some, wondering what it could be. She continues following Sasuke and Gaara back to the house, but she can't shake the feeling, so that night after putting Sasuke to bed, she sits by the window, summoning one of her and Itachi's ravens and giving it a message, sending it home to Konoha. She then curls up in her sleeping roll, drifting into a troubled sleep. Sasuke wakes her up the next morning, curling up beside her and saying softly,

"Bad dream, something's wrong with Aniki." She frowns, rubbing his back a bit, her feeling is telling her the same thing, and it worries her, especially since she and Sasuke are not there to help him. They soon get dressed and head to breakfast, but both are distracted, and Sani eats only a bit before heading outside with Sasuke and Gaara once they finish. Luka shares a look with Yashamaru, both of them worried. The two men talk on the porch as they watch the kids training with their shinobi guards, who they more consider teachers and friends. Yashamaru smiles as he watches, amazed and Gaara's quick progress, and Luka smiles too.

"Sani's a great teacher; Sasuke is advanced for his age as well." Yashamaru nods, sipping his tea as they continue to talk and watch. That evening, as Sani is describing to Gaara how she thinks he can form his sand into a total protective sphere, they hear the caw of a raven, and look up to the skies. Sani searches around, and then lets out a musical whistle, and the raven circles lower and lower, landing on her wrist. She listens to its message, Sasuke coming over to her as she does, and she sinks to her knees, her eyes filling with tears. Sasuke frowns, and she hugs him close, telling him the message, and he begins to cry as well. Luka frowns,

"Excuse me a moment." He says, getting up. Yashamaru nods, watching the jonin as he heads over to his team who has all come over to Sani and Sasuke, looking very worried. Luka kneels down in front of Sani, asking softly,

"What's wrong, Sani what is it?" and she sniffles, looking at him.

"I-Itachi... h-he's really sick, h-he needs us." She says softly, and Luka's eyes widen. He puts a hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Kiro and Sola frown too, kneeling with Sani as well, trying to comfort their teammate and friend. They soon call it a night, Gaara and Sasuke though stay right close to Sani, so Yashamaru gives his permission for him to spend a night with them. After goodnights, Sani and her team, along with Sasuke and Gaara, head to the stay house, retreating to their separate rooms and changing into sleepwear. Sani sends a new raven back to Konoha with both a message, and a small song for Itachi, knowing it's one that's calmed him since they were young. Sasuke and Gaara curl up on her sleeping roll with her, neither one wanting to stray far. Sasuke says softly,

"I hope Aniki will be okay." Sani nods, ruffling his hair and kissing the top of his head.

"Me too Chibi, me too." She says softly, pulling her blanket around the three of them as they gaze at the sky, watching the stars.

* * *

Back home the next morning, Itachi turns over as the door opens, opening one eye to see his mother come in with a raven on her arm. Itachi holds out a trembling hand for the bird, and it moves to his wrist, nudging his cheek affectionately. Mikoto heads from the room, and Itachi listens to Sani's message, the sound of her voice comforting to him. His eyes then widen as a soft song begins to come from the bird, and he realizes it's the song Sani always sang to him, her soft voice soothing him as he curls up, listening to it as the bird now sits on the pillow. His eyes close slowly, her soft voice comforting him and reassuring him some. He ends up drifting to sleep to the song, and the raven remains on his pillow for a while, almost as if it's guarding him.

Outside the room, Fugaku and Mikoto are having tea in the living room. They had decided on having it there to be in hearing range of Itachi just in case anything happens. He asks,

"How's Itachi?" and Mikoto sighs.

"Sick, he's not keeping anything down still, he's more listless than before as well, he's sleeping more than he should be too." Fugaku frowns as well. Mikoto sighs too, they know that if Itachi continues to be unable to keep food or fluids down, aside from the odd sips of tea or water for much longer that they will have to summon the healer again. Mikoto says softly,

"Sani knows now. A raven came yesterday from her; she and Sasuke both had an unshakable feeling that something was wrong. Another one arrived today as well, just a few minutes ago or so, and I heard singing, it was her and Itachi's song, and I think he fell asleep to it." Mikoto sips her tea again, and Fugaku nods.

"That's good I suppose, at least he has one way to calm some." She nods again, and they talk for a while as they sip tea, also checking on Itachi off and on. They notice that whenever he wakes up, he has the bird repeat the song for him, curling up quietly as he listens. Mikoto and Fugaku are impressed with these ravens he and Sani use, how the birds can speak with either of their voices and follow their commands perfectly.

"All we can really do now is wait until either he gets well, or she returns home, whichever that comes first." Fugaku says, and Mikoto nods, the two of them soon heading to bed.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it! Please review and tell me what you think. :)**

**-Sani.**


	6. The Closeness of True Friends

**Well here's the awaited second half of the Suna mission! I added a good deal more to expand the mission, and also Itachi's perspective, as I did in the last chapter. I added a new twist as well in here. Also thank you again to those who reviewed and favorited! :) Please review and tell me what you think of this one too, I love seeing what people think. :)**

"Blah" - Talking

'Blah' - Thinking

**Disclaimer:** As usual I don't own anything, just my own characters and plot. *sigh* lol :P

* * *

A couple nights later in Konoha, Itachi is so lonely and miserable, more so than he has ever felt before. Aside from multiple training missions with his squad that kept him busy until he fell sick, he feels lonely. Between the bullying, preparing for the final stage of the Chunin exams, and pressure from his clan to be the best, and the neglect from his parents, and now being so ill, Itachi feels broken, like he's falling apart, especially without Sani and Sasuke there to keep him together. He misses Sani there to reassure him, and Sasuke to make him laugh. He's finally cracked under the pressure, his body unable to take any more. He spends most of the time sleeping now, too weak to do much else.

This is how his parents have realized just how depressed he is, and how emotionally attached he and Sani are, why they're so inseparable. He needs her and Sasuke back here to reassure him. Mikoto is sitting on the couch, a book on her lap that she isn't reading, as Fugaku comes in and sits beside her.

Itachi is in Sani's room, sleeping, the healer had just left not too long ago. Fugaku had called on him because Itachi hasn't been able to keep anything down for four days now, and he can barely stand without help. The healer had told them it's a result of severe emotional stress that has manifested physically. Fugaku says softly,

"Any word from Sani on how much longer the mission will be?" and Mikoto shakes her head as she looks up at him.

"None." She says softly. Fugaku sighs, leaning back against the couch, and then gently pulling Mikoto against his side. Mikoto soon makes some tea, and she and Fugaku sit and talk for a while, making sure to check on Itachi off and on. The healer had put Itachi on an intravenous drip for fluids for the night, and Mikoto was encouraged to continue trying to get him to sip tea and broth at regular intervals as well. She and Fugaku also keep an eye on the drip, as they are to alert the healer when the drip reaches close to empty. They eventually head to bed after checking on Itachi once more and making sure the drip is still okay. They find him asleep on his side, Sani's raven once again singing softly to him.

* * *

"Hey Sani, are you alright?" Kiro asks at breakfast the following morning, he and Sola have been watching Sani as she gazes outside the window for several minutes now. Sasuke is curled up on her lap, barely eating himself. He exchanges a look with Sola, both of them are worried about their friend and her little brother, both of them have been so upset since they had heard about Itachi. Luka frowns too as he sips his coffee, he's worried as well. After they finish, he rounds up his team, the three of them and Sasuke heading to the Kazekage's house to continue guarding and training with the kids, while he heads to the Kazekage tower for his meeting with said village leader.

At the house, Gaara runs outside when he sees the Konoha team, followed by his siblings, and he runs right over to Sani, hugging her around the legs. She smiles a little, kneeling down to give him a proper hug, and then she and Sasuke go with him to one part of the training area, Kankuro goes with Kiro to another, and Sola takes Temari to a third. Sani watches the other two kids with her team mates for a few moments, before turning to Gaara and Sasuke. Sasuke smiles a bit as Gaara sits beside him, offering his teddy bear, and Sani can't help smiling a bit at the gesture.

They end up sitting there under the tree for a bit before they actually begin any training. Sani and Sasuke gasp when Gaara suddenly forms his sand into a shield, making it surround the three of them in a nearly perfect circle. She and Sasuke then both smile, and she says softly as Sasuke congratulates him,

"Wow Gaara-kun, you've been practicing." He nods and smiles, curling up at her other side as they settle against the tree. They sit and talk a bit longer, and then get up, starting to train on some things. Sani ends up teaching Gaara how to form his sand into kunai like shapes and fling them like projectile weapons. He grins, practicing enthusiastically on it, while Sani starts Sasuke on Taijutsu, working first on blocking and dodging, and then on offence. Gaara soon joins them, using both his sand and Taijutsu as well. Sani smiles, letting the two of them try sparring together, while she supervises, and they seem to really enjoy it.

"Come and eat!" Yashamaru calls later that night, catching everyone's attention, so chatting as they gather their gear, the seven of them head back to the house, taking off their sandals at the door and heading inside. Yashamaru smiles and serves out dinner, all of them settling around the table to eat. Yashamaru watches with a bit of a smile after dinner as Gaara curls up on Sani's lap, Sasuke curled at her side as she tells the two boys a story.

A few days later, Sani waits nervously outside the Kazekage's office. She's anxious to get back home to Itachi, and her team will leave in an hour. She's here to see the Kazekage right now to hopefully make a small request for Sasuke. She takes a deep breath, and she knocks on the door once more.

"Enter." A calm voice says after a moment. Sani pulls open the heavy doors and goes inside. She then closes the doors gently, and then bows politely.

"Lord Kazekage, I was hoping to make a small request." She says softly. He nods, motioning for her to continue. She nods and sits down in front of his desk.

"My otouto has become friends with young Gaara." Sani begins, and the Kazekage's eyes go a bit wide. She then continues softly,

"So, I would like to ask, may we please bring Gaara to Konoha to visit with my brother for say, maybe a week?" Lord Kazekage rests his chin on his hand as he thinks, regarding Sani curiously, also thinking of how his youngest son has become attached to this girl and her little brother as well, and then he says,

"Will you take careful care of my son?" her eyes widen, not having quite expected to hear that question from him, but she recovers quickly and nods,

"Yes sir, on my honor as a Konoha ninja, I will." He nods,

"I shall grant your request; I will have someone come for him in one week." Sani nods and she gets up, bowing again.

"Arigatou Lord Kazekage, I appreciate it very much." She says, and then leaves the office, and gently closing the doors. She then makes her way to where her squad is waiting for her, along with Sasuke and Gaara. When she comes up to them, she smiles and asks,

"Luka-sensei, would you please carry Sasuke for me?" he nods slipping on his pack and letting a smile grace his lips as well, though Sasuke looks confused.

"Nishu?" he asks, sounding almost hurt. Sani just smiles, kneeling down and putting her hands on his shoulders,

"Sasuke-kun, I don't have room on my back to carry both you and Gaara." It takes a second, and then both boys squeal happily. Everyone chuckles as the kids grin. The rest of the group pulls on their packs, and Sasuke climbs onto Luka sensei's back, and Sani crouches so Gaara can climb on hers, his teddy bear is stashed safely inside her pack. They say goodbye to their hosts, thanking them, and then head off. They also stop at the Kazekage's house so they can say goodbye to Temari and also to Kankuro, who they find outside. They spend about a half an hour talking with them and Yashamaru, and then they wait while Gaara hugs his siblings and uncle, and then they head out, Gaara waving from Sani's back.

That night as they set up camp, Sani smiles, watching the two boys as they play not far from the fire as she cooks some stew for her team. Luka-sensei is reading through some papers regarding their mission, and both of her teammates are gone out for a walk, gathering some firewood. She stirs the stew, and then sits back some, thinking about their time in Suna, and then also thinking about Itachi, and how worried she is about him. Kiro and Sola soon return with some wood, and Sani calls the boys over, and she dishes out stew for everyone, all of them chuckling as Luka-sensei grumbles

"A few more minutes." Softly, without even bothering to look up from his papers. Sani smirks, going over and kneeling in front of him.

"Luka-sensei, you can drown yourself in paperwork later, it's time to eat." He looks up, and he smirks at her and nods, setting down the folder and taking the bowl from her. She nods and goes back to her spot with Sasuke and Gaara, sitting with them as they eat. She smiles as she eats, listening to Sasuke tell Gaara about Konoha. Sola and Kiro chuckle, inputting things here and there as Sasuke talks, and they laugh as the two boys end up making a little game out of keeping the paperwork away from Luka after they've finished eating. Sani laughs too, making sure the boys don't get too carried away, smirking as Luka laughs and playfully chases them around their campsite, the two of them laughing happily.

Later that night, Sani is putting the two boys to bed, while Sola and Kiro are discussing some mission things with Luka. She's tucking them into their sleeping bags, softly singing the lullaby Sasuke always loves to hear, which Gaara now enjoys as well. Once they're asleep, she heads over to her team, joining in the discussions.

* * *

About three days later, they approach Konoha's gates, and Sani can feel how nervous Gaara is as he clings tightly to her as he looks around, all of the new people making him nervous. Sani smiles a bit, rubbing his side a little as they head for the Uchiha district, where Luka-sensei lets Sasuke down, and then he and her other two squad mates each head home to relax and rest, waving as they head off.

Sani lets Gaara down, and they take her hands as she leads them inside the main house, finding it quiet, meaning their parents are out, which upsets her, Itachi shouldn't be alone in the house with how sick he's been. She settles Sasuke and Gaara in Sasuke's room to play, and then she goes to her room to get her stuff, wanting to shower and to change before she checks on Itachi.

She goes to grab a clean sleep shirt from her closet, when she notices Itachi is in her bed, curled up, and shivering a little as he sleeps. Sani's eyes fill with tears, he looks so sick and sad, he's very pale and gaunt looking. She goes over to the bed, and she pulls back the covers and lies down beside him, which makes him stir slightly. She goes to pull Itachi into her arms, wanting to comfort him, but he suddenly whimpers and starts to pull away, instincts taking over even though he's asleep, his fevered mind not recognizing Sani at first. She says softly,

"It's alright now, my Tachi." And he whimpers a little and lifts his head, his dark eyes hazed with sleep and fever, though when he sees its Sani, he stops trying to move away and curls up at her side, as close as he can get to her. Sani starts gently rubbing his back in a soothing motion, humming softly as he finally lets go and he breaks down sobbing, the stress of everything having taken its toll. She starts to hum softly, comforting her broken friend. She kisses the top of his head as he burrows into her shoulder, his sobs finally softening to whimpers and sniffles, and his trembling lessens. When he more calm and relaxed, he tells her about how sick and so over pressured he's been feeling for the last nearly two weeks due to heavy stress. Sani gets up in a careful movement, not to upset him, and she says,

"I'll be right back." He looks sad, but nods. Sani goes into the kitchen, starting to make some chicken broth for Itachi and some ramen for herself, Sasuke and Gaara. When it's ready, she calls the boys from Sasuke's room.

"Sasuke, Gaara, come and eat!" they both come out, following her to her room.

"Aniki!" Sasuke cries happily when they go into her room, climbing onto the bed and hugging Itachi tightly. He smiles a little, ruffling Sasuke's hair.

"Missed you, otouto." He says softly, and Sasuke snuggles against him.

"Missed you too, aniki." Sani just smiles, sitting on the edge of the bed as well, and Gaara comes over to her, looking around her arm shyly at Itachi.

"Tachi-kun, this is Gaara." Sani says softly as Itachi looks at the redhead curiously as he hugs Sasuke tightly. Sani sets the tray down, and Sasuke and Gaara sit down to eat. She sits back beside Itachi, and he curls back up beside her. With him snuggled into her side, Sani helps him eat the broth, knowing he can't take anything solid. When he's done, he curls back up, and closes his eyes. Sani eats her own lunch as he sleeps beside her. Gaara and Sasuke play quietly on the floor with some coloring pads while she does. When she's done, she sets down her bowl, and hugs Itachi close, worried about him. She also notices how fevered he is.

"Sasuke," She asks softly, "would you and Gaara please get me some cold water in a bowl, and some cloths?" the boys both nod and run from the room. Sani looks back down at Itachi, she's never seen him this sick, and nor this stressed out. Sasuke and Gaara soon come back, Sasuke is balancing a bowl of water quite well, and Gaara has a few of the cloths from the bathroom. She thanks them, and they go back to Sasuke's room to go back to playing. Sani dips a cloth in the water, wringing it out some and laying it across Itachi's forehead, which makes him whine softly.

"Shh…" she says softly, brushing back is damp bangs. He settles back down, and she stays with him, rewetting the cloth on a regular basis. When their parents come home, Sasuke and Gaara come back to her room, where they feel more comfortable.

That night at supper, Sani asks their parents about Itachi, and they tell her he's been seen by the clan's healer a couple of times now, and they also tell her about how he was getting her raven to sing her song to him every night as he cried himself to sleep, and she frowns, chewing at her lip some, feeling so bad for having left him for so long. Sasuke and Gaara are quiet, Gaara is just feeling very shy, and Sasuke just wants to stay with his brother. After dinner, Sani gets up, helping her mother clean up, and then she and the boys return to her room after, where she gets a few things ready, and helps Itachi into the bathroom for a bath, the boys playing in her room. She washes Itachi's hair as he relaxes in the tub after his body is washed, and she hums softly, which helps him relax more. After, she helps him out and to dry off, and then she helps him change into fresh sleepwear, leading him back to her bed. She then runs a bath for the boys, staying to watch them while Itachi sleeps, the mere actions of bathing had totally exhausted him, and he had fallen asleep as soon as he had lain down. She smiles at them as they play, and she soon kneels down, making a few hand signs and suddenly a tiny water dragon is racing around the bath, making both boys squeal with laughter. She just smiles and shakes her head fondly, soon washing them up and getting them out of the tub, drying them and changing them into pajamas. They follow her back to her room, where she lets them both camp out on the floor with sleeping bags. She soon gets a bath herself, changing into her own pajamas and laying down beside Itachi in her bed, wanting to stay with him just in case.

A couple days later, Sani's getting very worried, Itachi is barely conscious and his fever is getting worse. He also now has congestion in his lungs as well. She summons her white falcon (which was found at the old Ukishira district and given to her) to send a message to Itachi's sensei to help her get him over to the hospital to be checked by a doctor. Sasuke is at an orientation class at the Academy, so Gaara is the only one with her right now. She sits by the bed, Itachi's hand in hers as she watches him, worry in her eyes. She's also annoyed that their parents have gone out somewhere again as well.

Mikai-sensei soon arrives, her eyes filling with worry when she sees Itachi. She gently lifts the weakened ten year old from the bed, and Sani follows her with Gaara over to the hospital, Sasuke's little backpack over one shoulder. His pre-Academy class, which had recently been thought up, for the students to explore the building and stuff, won't be over for another hour, she'll be picking him up soon.

At the hospital, Itachi is immediately admitted and placed on some oxygen to help his labored and congested breathing. Medics start checking on his systems, and they diagnose him with high stress induced pneumonia, and he's immediately taken for chakra therapy to reduce the fever and to clear his lungs of the fluid. Sani sits down on a chair, Gaara climbing onto her lap and curling up, whole Mikai stands by the window. After a little while, Itachi is still in his therapy session, and Sasuke's pre-Academy class is about to end, so Sani asks,

"Mikai-sensei, would you watch Gaara for me please? I need to go and get Sasuke from that orientation class." She nods, but looks curiously at the redhead clinging to Sani's shirt and trying to hide behind her, she asks softly,

"Who is he? He isn't from here." Sani nods,

"He's the Kazekage's son, here to visit Sasuke, therefore under my care and my protection." She nods, and Sani heads out after promising Gaara that she will be back as soon as possible. She reaches the Academy, waiting at the gate with some of the other parents, chatting with Lord Hiashi Hyuga a bit while they wait; he's waiting for his elder daughter, Hinata. Sasuke's group soon comes out, looking excited. Sasuke soon comes running over, a wide grin on his face.

"Did you have fun?" She asks as with a smile she crouches down so he can climb on her back, so they can travel faster.

"Hai! I can't wait to start there!" he says, and tells her what he did as they travel. When they near the hospital, a confused Sasuke asks,

"Nishu, why are we here?" She chews her lip, and says softly, letting him down,

"Sasuke-kun, we had to bring Tachi here earlier, he's very, very sick." Sasuke starts to cry, wanting his Aniki. Sani gently picks up, and carries him inside. Gaara runs over too when he sees her, his aqua eyes widening when he sees Sasuke crying. She runs her fingers through Gaara's hair in reassurance, and he takes both of the boys into Itachi's room after asking the on call doctor where it is, where Gaara climbs onto one of the two chairs. With Sasuke still in her arms, Sani goes over to the window, reaching a hand out and using a special chakra summons she created to call her falcon. She doesn't really want to, but she uses her to send a note home to their parents. She then moves to Itachi's bedside, reaching down and lightly brushing his damp bangs out of his eyes. She sits in the other chair, Sasuke curling up on her lap. The doctor then comes in, telling her that Itachi is stable, but very sick. He tells her they've drained fluid from his lungs, and now he's on oxygen that has a medicated mist in it, and they were also able to bring down the fever, it was spiking when they brought him in. The worst was healed, now he just needs to rest and recover, and he will need a few more chakra therapy sessions as well. The doctor then asks,

"Has he been under a lot of stress lately?" and Sani nods sadly, telling him about all of what Itachi had been dealing with, save for the neglect part. The doctor nods, checking on Itachi's vitals before leaving. A couple of hours later, their parents arrive. Sani is sitting in the big sleeper chair now that had been brought in and put beside the bed instead of one of the small plastic chairs; Sasuke and Gaara are both sleeping on either side of her. She stays quiet as she watches their parents act as if they're "so worried" about their elder son, her best friend, and inside, she's seething with anger.

"Let's go home now Sani." Her mother says suddenly, and she scowls,

"Iie Kaa-san, I'm staying here." She goes to pick up Sasuke, and Sani knocks her hands away.

"Leave him alone." She says coolly. Mikoto goes to pick up Sasuke from her side again, and Sani, now getting very annoyed and feeling like she has no choice, activates her Sharingan, which now looks like a three bladed pinwheel, as all the time she, Itachi and Shisui had spent perfecting their Sharingan under Madara's tutelage had paid off, and she snaps,

"I said don't touch him!" their parents both gasp, backing up.

"H-how… w-when…" Fugaku asks, stunned. He'd only seen that style of bladed Sharingan in a scroll once that belonged to the founder, Madara. Sani sighs,

"I've had it since I was eight years old, same as Itachi." Their eyes widen. She hugs Sasuke to her side protectively, and he snuggles down more. Their parents finally head home, and Sani sighs a bit, looking back at Itachi, who wakes up soon after. He looks around the room with an uncertain look in his eyes, and Sani reaches over, touching his cheek gently.

"It's alright, Tachi-kun." He relaxes when he sees her. She says softly,

"You got too sick to stay at home; your fever was really high." He nods, examining the IV in his left hand with a look of pure distaste that Sani can't help but smirk at, taking a hold of her hand with his free one. She just smiles, smoothing back his hair as he closes his eyes, sleep overtaking him again, his body demanding rest.

The next morning, Sani is woken by Gaara and Sasuke, who look nervous, and when she sits up a bit, yawning some, her eyes widen, standing just inside the open doorway are two of the Uchiha elders. She glances over at Itachi, who's still sleeping, and then back at the elders, her eyes confused. The female elder shuts the door, and she and the other elder, a man, come in to the room, pulling over the plastic chairs. Sani puts Sasuke and Gaara on Itachi's bed, since they're still sleepy as well, and they curl up beside him, going back to sleep.

"Is something wrong?" Sani asks, sipping the tea a nurse had brought in when the boys had woken up. Komuri, the woman, says softly,

"Lord Fugaku has informed us you have a Sharingan." Sani's eyes widen, but she nods some, chewing her lip a little. Kenti, the man, says,

"May we see it, Miss Sanishu?" and she nods, activating her bloodline limit. She chews her lip again, watching the elders a little nervously as they begin talking quietly together. Sani leans over a bit and takes Itachi's hand in hers, watching him sleep while she waits. She deactivates her Sharingan, relaxing in the chair.

"Miss Sani," the woman says, "we are a bit concerned, your Sharingan looks very different, it looks like a form of more dangerous Sharingan very rarely seen or acquired in our family, and we must ask you yo be cautious. We must ask that either you refrain from using it or that you use a jutsu to disguise it to make it appear as a normal Uchiha Sharingan." Sani's eyes widen, she doesn't want to alter or hide her Sharingan, and the mere idea of it angers her. Sani sighs and looks at her hands.

"I guess." She says, though she is very unhappy about it. The two elders not, heading out of the room, talking quietly as they go, deciding to have Sani watched just in case she disobeys their order regarding her bloodline limit, they don't want it getting out to other lands, and also especially not to the traitor snake sannin that an Ukishira still lives. They agree that not telling Sani the real truth about her bloodline is the best way to go. They make their way back to the district, heading to the clan head's house and knocking on the door.

"What is it?" Fugaku asks as he pulls open the sliding screen door to reveal the two elders. He nods as they both bow to him, and he steps aside to let them in, and they retreat to the living room. Mikoto brings them tea, and excuses herself to tend to house cleaning. Fugaku sips his tea, waiting, and Kenti says,

"We have told your daughter that we have concern about her Sharingan, and we have told her that either she has to refrain from using it, or use a jutsu that will make it appear as a normal Uchiha Sharingan, we cannot have outsiders, especially that traitor sannin, finding out that an Ukishira still lives." Fugaku nods his agreement, sipping his tea. All of the Uchiha elders know about how much the snake wants the Sharingan, and it unsettles them a great deal.

* * *

A few days later, Sani heads back to the Uchiha compound with Gaara and Sasuke. They're all heading back to shower and change, and Sani wants to make some chicken soup for Itachi, he is starting to eat liquids again, as he had been on IV nutrients and fluids for the last few days, as every time he tried to ingest something it would just come back up. Now though he finally is able to keep some fluids down, not all, unfortunately, but some nonetheless. She takes both boys inside to her room, running a bath and getting their clean clothes. While they play in the bath, Sani sits on the floor near the tub, watching them, but also she keeps thinking about the visit from the elders a couple of days ago and what they had told her. She doesn't see what is so wrong with her Sharingan, she knows how to use it, and how to control it, and Madara was pleased with it as well. She decides to send a message to him that night, to tell him what they had told her and ask him what he thinks she should do about it.

She smiles as the boys start a splash fight, smirking as she leans over and ruffles their hair, at the same time as splashing them both a bit. When they're done playing, she gets them both washed and dried and dressed, and then sets them to play in her room while she gets her own shower. After, she brings them to the kitchen, where they start coloring at the table, while she starts on the soup for Itachi. She makes some lunch for herself and the two boys too, and she serves it out while the soup simmers, coloring with them for a bit too. When the soup is done, Sani puts some into a container, and the rest into the fridge, and after gathering a few other things, they head back to the hospital. She smiles when she sees Itachi awake when they get there, talking to Shisui, though he still looks pale and tired. Sani smiles as she and the boys come over, the two of them climbing onto the bed, and Sani sits down beside it after she hugs Shisui as well.

"Hey Tachi, want to know something strange?" Sani says softly, and he nods. Shisui nods too, turning to face her as well. Gaara and Sasuke start playing with some coloring books at the end of the bed, and Sani says softly,

"Elders Kenti and Komuri came to see me the other day. I had to activate my Sharingan from anger in front of Kaa-san and Tou-san, because they kept trying to take Sasuke, and they told the elders about it, and now they told me either I can't use it, or I have to use a jutsu to make it look like your Sharingan instead." Itachi and Shisui gasp, shocked. They keep talking about it for a while, the two of them agreeing with Sani about sending a message to Madara later on that night.

That night, once Gaara and Sasuke have fallen asleep, Shisui summons the crow, and they put together a message for Madara, telling him briefly about what happened with the elders, and if he thinks he should come and talk to the three of them personally or not. They sign it with bits of their blood, and Shisui sends the crow out the window, returning to his seat beside Itachi's bed. His mother had allowed him to stay the night. They end up not having to wait long, soon a shadowy figure appears in the corner of the room, and he steps forward, revealing himself in the light to be Madara. He crosses the room and crouches down with his three students.

"So, what exactly did the elders tell you, Sani?" he asks, and Sani nods, starting to recount her visit with the elders, showing them her Sharingan after they asked to see it, having been told by Fugaku about it, and how upset they got and what they had told her to do. They gasp as Madara hisses in anger, clenching a fist.

"Bastards." He mutters under his breath, which makes the three widen their eyes a bit. Itachi rests back in bed, feeling tired, but not wanting to miss anything. Madara straightens up, and he lays a hand over Itachi's forehead.

"How are you feeling, son?" he asks, which makes all three gasp in surprise. True they have all become very close to Madara during the years they've trained under him, but none were expecting that, nor do they question it. Madara chuckles a bit, ruffling Itachi's hair. He stays a while to talk with them, and he tells Sani,

"Obey what they say for now, do not reveal your true Sharingan unless absolutely necessary, is that understood?" and she nods.

"I promise, Madara-sensei." He nods, and as he stands up he says,

"It appears I will soon have to teach you how to use your form of Sharingan, until then keep up with your training that I have assigned and I will return soon. Good luck on the final stage of your exam, Itachi." They all nod, and Itachi thanks him as well, and they watch him as he vanishes using the body flicker technique. Shisui gets up after, and with a grin he uses the same technique to move around the room, and Itachi and Sani smile.

"Wow, you've nailed it!" Itachi says, and Shisui grins and nods.

"Hai, I've been practicing every chance I could get." Sani and Itachi nod, they've finally gotten the hang of it as well, but have not shown it yet.

"When I'm better, we'll show you ours." Itachi says, and Shisui nods, settling down in the over sized sleeper chair on the other side of Itachi's bed, while Sani settles between the two sound asleep boys, and then leans over, taking Itachi's hand. Itachi smiles tiredly, and despite all the excitement, he soon falls asleep, his body too tired to continue. Sani and Shisui watch him for a bit, talking softly, before falling asleep themselves.

* * *

A few days later, Itachi is still doing well, he's now finished with chakra therapy, and his lungs are now clear and the fever is almost gone. His body just needs to fish recovering, and they're hoping he can come home soon, but the two younger boys, Sasuke and Gaara, are very upset. They had been depressed all the day before, and today too. The reason being is Yashamaru is coming today for Gaara, and neither he nor Sasuke want for him to leave. Sani is currently packing his clean clothes in his bag, while both he and Sasuke are sitting out in the backyard. She's planning to take them to see Itachi again before Gaara has to leave.

"Boys!" Sani calls outside, "are you guys ready? We're heading out." Sasuke and Gaara come inside, slipping their sandals on, and Sani gives Gaara his teddy bear as they start walking to the hospital. They stay close to Sani as they walk, though at one point Naruto joins them for a bit, as he's on his way to Ichiraku's to meet Iruka, which is on the way to the Leaf's hospital. He talks with Sasuke and Gaara, the three of them playing a small tag game as they wander through the street, Sani now holding the teddy bear. She smiles a bit as she watches them at their game, knowing Sasuke has accepted Naruto, just like he has Gaara. She and Itachi still have Naruto somewhat under their wing too. When they stop at Ichiraku's, Sani orders ramen to go for Gaara and Sasuke, and they wave good bye to Naruto, who sits down on a stool and places his own order. Sani pays for hers when Teuchi brings it over, and they continue toward the hospital.

"We're here to see Itachi Uchiha." Sani says to the nurse when they go inside and over to the admittance and registration desk. The nurse smiles and nods, making sure he isn't with any of his doctors, and clears them to go upstairs. Sani nods and thanks her, and she and Gaara and Sasuke head for the stairs, making their way to the floor Itachi's room is on. Itachi is sitting up reading when they come in, and he smiles when he sees them. Sasuke goes over and gets up on the bed, curling up beside him, and Sani and Gaara follow, Gaara climbing onto the bed as well. Itachi says to him,

"We're going to miss you around here, kid." And Gaara nods, looking down a bit. Itachi leans over and ruffles his hair.

"Don't worry we'll have you over again, or we'll visit you." And both Gaara and Sasuke's eyes light up and they hug Itachi. Sani smiles, and when they calm down Sani gives them the two things of Ramen she got them for lunch. She pulls out some soup she made for Itachi, and he and her have some of it. Shisui soon arrives too, and the five of them end up starting up some games to occupy time and keep the two younger boys cheered up.

After a couple of hours, Sani says softly,

"Alright boys, time to get ready." And they both sniffle. Gaara hugs Itachi, and then Shisui as well, which surprises them a bit. Shisui ruffles his hair, and then Gaara picks up his teddy bear again, and he and Sasuke head out with Sani after she kisses Itachi's cheek and tells him that she and Sasuke will be back in a bit. Shisui stays with Itachi, the two of them talking together after the others head out. Outside, Sani, Gaara and Sasuke head for the Western gates of the village, where Yashamaru will be arriving shortly. They get to the gate, and they sit down on by a tree to wait, Sasuke and Gaara sitting together, looking at a book Sani had taken out of her pack for them. While they look at the book, Sani keeps an eye out for Yashamaru, and she waves when she sees him. He waves back, jogging over to the gates, and Gaara grins and he gets up, hugging his uncle tightly. Sani keeps her look neutral but polite, but inside she's very worried about the look Yashamaru is discreetly giving her little redheaded friend. Gaara lets go of his uncle, sniffling as he hugs Sasuke, who's sniffling as well, both boys crying a bit.

"Gonna miss you, nii-san." Gaara says to Sasuke, and he nods.

"I'm gonna miss you too." Sani smiles some at them calling each other 'brother', since they've come to see each other that way, being such close friends. She and Yashamaru talk a bit, they let the boys have a few minutes as they do, and then Sani hands Gaara's bag to Yashamaru, who tucks the teddy bear safe inside, and then he crouches down so Gaara can climb up onto his back. Sani gives Gaara a hug again as well, and then he and Yashamaru head off, Gaara waving from Yashamaru's back as they do. Sani then kneels down, hugging Sasuke, rubbing his back gently. When he calms a bit, she lets him climb into her back, and she heads back for the hospital, the two of them wanting to visit Itachi some more. She also plans to find and talk to Itachi's doctor to see when he can be released, since the third stage of the chunin exam will start in just a few more days, and Itachi has to get back in shape for it, due to what he had lost from being sick. When they get there Itachi and Shisui are playing cards. Sasuke settles on the bed beside Itachi, and Sani joins in the game as well, Sasuke cheering up some as he's watching them.

* * *

**Well there it is, I hope you liked it! Chapter 7 is on it's way as soon as I finish it. :)**

**-Sani.**


	7. Silver Chain and Young Chunin

**Chapter 7 is finally here! Lol. I really worked this one over, it was way too compressed before and not enough detail, so I have spread some things out, fixed the detail and even added a few new things.**

**Also, thank you so much to Yuuki no Yuki and to Aidriana-chan for your awesome and encouraging reviews! Was this fast enough Yuki? Lol! I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter. Review and tell me what you think. It's very encouraging to hear! :)**

"Blah" - Talking

'Blah ' - Thinking

**Disclaimer: **Same as usual, don't own. Though I wish Itachi could be an exception, lol! :P

* * *

Sani and Itachi are in Itachi's room, currently getting ready to head out to the arena for the third stage of the exam to become Chunin. She and Sasuke are going to watch Itachi in his match today; Shisui will be there to watch too. Mikoto and Fugaku had already left to the arena, at least an hour ago, wanting to speak with some people that will be present. Sani wanders into Itachi's room, where she finds him sitting on his bed, chin resting on his hands, so she sits beside him,

"Nervous?" she asks softy, putting an arm around his shoulders. Itachi just shrugs some, but he ends up resting his head on her shoulder, his black hair falling against her arm.

"I think I'm ready." He says. Sani smiles and gives him a hug, and then she says softly as she begins to massage his shoulders,

"Here, this is for you." And she pauses and fastens a slim chain around his neck. His obsidian eyes widen and he lifts the chain to see it's slim silver, with three slightly thicker, rings set into it at different intervals. He then pulls her into a tight hug; he's surprised by the gift.

"Arigatou." He says softly. Sani smiles and kisses his cheek, and then they go out to the living room, where they find Sasuke bouncing on a couch cushion happily, apparently he had found Itachi's dango stash… again. Itachi shakes his head, but is smirking, and then he crouches down so Sasuke can climb onto his back, Sani grabs his bag, and they head off to the arena, seeing many other people on their way there as well.

At the arena, Itachi lets Sasuke down, so that he and Sani can find their seats. Both Sani and Sasuke give Itachi hugs, and Sani kisses his cheek, and he goes over to join the other waiting candidates.

"Good luck." Sani mouths to him as he glances back at her, and he nods and lifts his hand to wave at them, smiling a little. Sani takes Sasuke's hand, about to lead him into the stands, to go and find their seats, when a soft voice suddenly stops them, and a hand catches a hold of Sani's shirt hem.

"Sasuke?" the soft voice asks shyly, and he and Sani both turn around, gasping and then they both smile.

"Gaara-kun?" She asks, surprised though happy, while Sasuke runs over to his friend happily. He nods, hugging Sasuke back, and then he turns to the Kazekage, tugging on his robe gently and chewing his lip. When the man looks down at the boy, and then crouches down so he's at his level, Gaara asks,

"Otou-san, may I sit with them?" the Kazekage looks over at Sani and Sasuke, and then nods, his eyes softening slightly, ruffling Gaara's hair. He puts his hands on the boy's shoulders, and tells Gaara where and when to meet him at the end of the exam. Soon after, with their hands in hers; Sani leads the two boys down to the stands and along to the first row, where their seats are. They also notice that the Uchiha clan head is a few seats down with some of the clan elders. Sani sits down, the boys clamoring into the two seats on either side of her. The order of the matches is then announced by the current proctor, and it turns out to be that Itachi's match is the fourth one, and it seems to be the most anticipated as well.

In precedence though, are three other very interesting matches. A leaf kunoichi and also one from the sand is the first match. The boys watch the match eagerly, wanting to see all the different types of Justus and techniques that the candidates use. The sand kunoichi ends up coming out victorious, and shakes the hand of her opponent, and then the two leave the field.

The next match is a genin from waterfall fighting one from sand. Sand once again emerges with the victory. The third is between leaf and sand again, but this time its leaf that emerges victor. Sasuke and Gaara both whoop excitedly when Itachi's name is called and the young Uchiha walks onto the field. His opponent is a thirteen year old Sand genin named Akane, and both boys manage to sit themselves in Sani's lap as the two opponents face each other in the center of the field. After their names are announced, and the two of them take their stances, and the proctor steps back, saying,

"Begin!" in a clear voice. He then teleports off the field and appears to the right of the Hokage, crouching by the edge of the balcony to watch the match. Itachi first activates his Sharingan, quickly trapping Akane in a genjutsu that has him seeing crows attacking him, circling him menacingly, while Itachi moves back toward the trees some, watching intently. Akane then manages to break out of it, having realized is was in fact a lower level technique that Itachi used, but not knowing it was more of a test so that Itachi can evaluate his opponent. Back in the back of the stands, Madara smiles behind his mask, Itachi is doing well, using the plans they had come up with at their last training session a couple days ago. He catches Sani and Shisui looking over at him and nods, turning back to the match, as do they. No one else has noticed that he's there.

Sasuke and Gaara cheer loudly when Itachi makes an expert use of the Phoenix Flower jutsu from up in a tree soon afterwards, and it is soon revealed he had hidden kunai inside each fireball. Sani smiles, knowing exactly what Itachi is planning to use next. When Akane fires a wind based jutsu at Itachi, he vaults off the branch, launching several kunai as he falls in a downward spiral, landing on his feet and then looking back, seeing Akane's sand clone hit the ground with several lodged in it, and narrows his crimson eyes.

"Impressive." He says, scanning the area with his Sharingan, both above ground and below it as well. He locates chakra almost below him and leaps away as Akane bursts from the ground in an attempt to grab him. They then enter Taijutsu in almost a dance like way, both of them moving fluidly around the arena as they attack and dodge, movements precise and exact. His eyes narrowed, Itachi suddenly fires another Fireball style, and singes the sleeve of Akane's shirt when he doesn't dodge it quite fast enough, following with another Genjutsu. Akane also breaks out of his one in decent time, though is winded from it, scowling when he sees Itachi does not seem to be tired at all. When he goes to try another Wind style, this time he fires at Itachi with several lethal, rapid moving wind bullets, and Itachi uses the body flicker to move out of range quickly, appearing in different spots to avoid the jutsu.

Up in the stands Sani can see the impressed looks on their parents' faces as they watch Itachi move around the arena quickly, dodging and countering effortlessly. She watches as Fugaku leans over to talk to an elder, and the man nods, answering him. She and Shisui glance back at Madara, seeing him still there, and he gives them a slight nod, returning his attention back to the match. Itachi uses the body flicker again, followed by another Phoenix flower jutsu, and Sani smiles as the boys continue cheering loudly, both very excited.

The rest of the match is a flurry of activity, and finally ends with Itachi trapping a rather tired Akane in a high level genjutsu that seems to alter the perceptions of reality of its victim. The proctor calls the match, announcing Itachi the victor. He gives a slight bow, and then releases the Genjutsu, freeing Akane. Akane nods a bit and smiles, he and Itachi shaking hands for a good match, and then both returning to the stands where their families and village members are seated.

Soon all of the proctors, judges and guests, even the whole arena's fans are all buzzing with excitement, talking about Itachi's expert skill, and mastered use of his surroundings and his jutsus. Sani and Shisui also see Madara give them a slight nod, and then he vanishes, using his own body flicker technique. Once all of the matches have ended, Sani takes the boys down to the ground level to find Itachi and the other candidates. He soon comes out of the room the candidates had been meeting in, and Sasuke runs over and hugs him, almost knocking him over as he'd grabbed him around the legs, not being tall enough to give him a proper hug. He chuckles slightly, ruffling Sasuke's black, spiky hair. Sani then gives him a hug as well, and he burrows into her shoulder for a minute, beginning to relax when he feels her arms around him, his nerves finally settling down.

Across the room, the Hokage and Kazekage are talking about the exams; the proctors had all gone off to talk to others. The Kazekage frowns some as he watches Itachi and Sani, how he only seems to calm when she is near him, as is the young dark haired boy. He watches as the two younger boys, the little raven headed one and Gaara congratulate Itachi, both of them hugging him again. The Hokage sees where he's looking, also frowning some.

"That boy… he doesn't trust… does he?" Lord Kazekage asks, nodding to Itachi. The Hokage's eyes sadden a bit.

"No, I'm afraid he doesn't. Aside from his kid brother there, Sasuke, who he obviously adores, the only one person that he trusts in the world is that girl, Sani." The Hokage says softly, yet kind of sadly. The Kazekage then says,

"His skills though, are exceptional, and he's only what, ten?" The Hokage nods, watching as Sani and Itachi head out with the boys, and then he says,

"He's a true prodigy, Sani is as well, she's at the same level he was at her age." The Kazekage nods some, the two talking a bit longer. Soon the Kazekage decides to return to his hotel, and also all the candidates head home as well, and the Kazekage tracks down Gaara at the park in behind the Academy, and he gives his permission for Gaara to spend the night at the Uchiha home to visit with Sasuke. Gaara grins and hugs him, and he nods, returning to his hotel room for the night.

The next day, everyone returns to the arena find out the selection of those who have achieved the rank of Chunin. Sani keeps both Sasuke and Gaara with her back in the crowd as they watch the candidates face the council committee. She does up Gaara's jacket, wondering how long he had left it undone, and ruffles his hair. She soon notices though that Gaara is suddenly being unusually clingy, but at the same time lethargic and almost sleepy, his cheeks are red against his pale skin too, so she lays the back of her hand to his forehead, and frowns, he has a fairly high fever. She realizes that it may be because he still isn't used to the much cooler climate of Konoha opposed to the hot deserts of Suna, and not having his jacket done up both yesterday and today didn't help either. Gaara whimpers a little and snuggles closer, hiding his face in her shoulder, and she can feel the warmth of his skin against her neck. She also knows there is a bug going around the Academy students right now too, and they had spent some of their free time at the park last night, around siblings of some of the older Academy students as they played. She sighs, the Kazekage won't be happy about this.

"Shh." Sani whispers, gently rubbing his back, and then using gentle chakra to sooth him to sleep, adjusting him in her arms so his head lies against her shoulder. Sasuke is now looking at them too, frowning.

"He okay, Nishu?" he asks, and Sani chews her lip, saying softly.

"He isn't feeling well, Sasuke." He frowns, looking at his best friend worriedly. She looks back in time to see Itachi and another boy from Sand end up being the only ones that are promoted to Chunin level. When he comes over a bit later, Sani can't help but smirk at him in his new green vest. He scowls playfully, but then he frowns when he sees the pale redhead sleeping in her arms. He asks,

"He alright?" and Sani says softly, worry in her eyes,

"I think the climate difference threw his system off and he caught something, there's also how we were around those kids in the park, with that bug going around the village too." As Itachi frowns, Sasuke asks if Gaara will be okay,

"He likely just needs rest." Sani says, and Sasuke nods. She then helps gently get Gaara into a piggyback carry position on Itachi's back, making sure he won't fall, and they go inside to meet the Kazekage where he's waiting for them. He frowns when he sees his sleeping son on the back of the young Chunin.

"Is he alright?" he asks, concerned, and Sani says softly,

"He started a fever during the meeting." Lord Kazekage frowns, touching his son's forehead a bit, smoothing back the dark red hair.

"We could take him over to Mrs. Haruno's. She's a good friend, and she's a medic too" Sani suggests, and the Kazekage nods in agreement. She crouches down when she sees Sasuke yawn, so that he can climb onto her back, and Itachi makes sure Gaara is still secure on his, and they head off, with Lord Kazekage following them.

Sani knocks on the door when they arrive, and the tall woman opens the door, letting them inside. She takes Gaara from Itachi, gently laying him down on the couch, and Itachi takes Sasuke from Sani when he notices the boy has fallen asleep. He sits by the couch, settling his little brother on his lap, careful not to wake him.

"Shh." Sani says when Sakura runs over, and the pinkette nods and sits on her lap to watch her mother. Sani notices how Sakura watches intently, she seems to be very interested in her mother's healing ability. They watch as Mrs. Haruno uses gentle chakra to examine Gaara,

"He's contracted a viral flu. It may be the climate difference, or it could be that bug that has been going around the Academy students, it's too soon to tell." She then adds softly,

"I'm afraid that taking him from the village is unadvisable in his present condition right now." Lord Kazekage frowns, and Sani then stands up. She glances at Itachi, and then she faces the Sand village leader, bowing politely.

"Lord Kazekage, I will care for him if you are agreeable, and I promise that when he is well, Itachi and I will personally escort him back to Suna." Itachi nods to show that he agrees, and Lord Kazekage closes his eyes, thinking. He hesitates at first, and then he nods,

"I will hold you both to that promise." He says, and both of them nod, bowing to him to show their respect. He soon heads out, needing to return to Suna, and entrusting Gaara to Sani's care. When Mrs. Haruno is done stabilizing Gaara's temperature, Itachi and Sani take both Sasuke and him home, settling them both down in Sani's bed, after changing them each into a set of Sasuke's pajamas. She and Itachi then take showers, changing into sleepwear and then settling near the bed.

She makes herself a bed on the floor, so she can stay close to Gaara if something goes wrong. By that night though, Sasuke has also come down with a fever, and they figure he's catching Gaara's flu. Once both boys are sleeping soundly, Sani settles down to sleep in her makeshift bed, curling on her side. She smiles to herself as she feels Itachi lay down beside her, and she snuggles into him as she falls asleep. He nods off shortly after she does.

The next morning, Sani yawns a bit and turns onto her back, smiling some when she sees her shoulder is still being used as a pillow, Itachi sleeping soundly beside her. She smoothes back his hair, soon carefully getting up.

"Nishu, my tummy hurts." Gaara says softly when she comes over, sniffling a bit, his eyes are teary. She frowns some, smoothing his hair, and using her chakra to check him a bit. She gets up and goes to the kitchen, getting a couple of pails and returning to the bedroom.

"Does it feel funny too?" she asks, and when he nods she sits beside him, a pail sitting beside her as well. His eyes suddenly go wide, and she puts the pail in front of him as he whimpers and hunches over it. She rubs his back, soothing him the best she can until he finishes getting sick. He sniffles after, snuggling against her side, and she wraps an arm around him. She also looks over when Itachi sits up, as Gaara being sick had woken him up. He frowns worriedly and comes over, giving Gaara a comforting hair ruffle. He then sits beside Sauske, and checks him some. Sasuke soon wakes up too, also saying his tummy hurts, so Itachi readies the pail, and sure enough, Sasuke gets sick as well, sniffling. Itachi and Sani share a worried look, the two of them very concerned.

As she and Itachi have some breakfast, the boys sleeping again, two birds arrive at the open window. One is Sani's white falcon, and the other is a Suna messenger hawk. Sani takes both birds inside, first taking the message from her falcon, frowning some as she reads.

"Oh man, Tachi, Sakura has the fever now too. This is from Mrs. Haruno; she included some of her herbs for reducing fevers and treating nausea as well." Itachi nods, frowning some though in concern for the young girl, as well as his little brother and Gaara. Sani then takes the rolled message from the canister on the hawk's back, watching it fly off. Inside is a letter sent by the Kazekage. It also has a letter for her sensei, Luka, requesting time off duty to care for Gaara. She gives this letter to her falcon, sending it off as she finishes reading the Kazekage's letter. She and Itachi also make some chicken broth after, storing some in the fridge, and they bring bowls into the bedroom, wanting to try and get the two boys to eat a bit, and get some fluids into them in the process.

* * *

A couple of days later, neither boy is any better. They're having trouble keeping even fluids at the most down, and Sani and Itachi are getting worried. They have also stayed in contact with Mrs. Haruno as well, and Sakura is doing the same. Itachi is gone training with his squad, and so she is alone with the boys right now. The herbs are controlling the fever somewhat, but she is worried it isn't enough; they should be keeping more down than they are. She decides that if they are still not keeping enough down in another day or two, that she is going to bring both of them to the hospital to be checked out. She heads into the kitchen to heat up some broth she had made last night, returning to the bedroom with it, as well as a bowl of shrimp rice for herself. She gently wakes the boys, checking their fevers and letting them curl up beside her. She keeps the pails handy as she starts to gently help them eat some broth, but yet again the effort ends in failure, making her sigh in worry and frustration. She eats her meal, and then she gets up, setting up a blanket nest in the corner of the bathroom. She first brings Gaara in to the bathroom, settling him in the blankets, and then returns for Sasuke, bringing him in as well. She runs a lukewarm bath, not wanting to shock their fevered skin with water that's too warm or too cold. She sets down fresh pajamas for them, and begins undressing Gaara. Sani sets him gently into the bath, and he whimpers a little, but relaxes against her arm, quiet as he watches her bathe him. She washes his hair and body, letting him rest against her arm for a moment, and then she lifts him from the tub, drying and dressing him, and then settling him back in the blankets. She then lifts Sasuke, undressing and bathing him as well, and then she dries and dresses him too. She puts their dirty clothes in her hamper, and she returns them to bed in her room, laying fresh cloths over their foreheads.

"Sani? I'm home, how are the boys?" Itachi calls a while later as he makes his way through the house to Sani's room. He smiles when he finds her asleep, the boys curled up at her sides, sleeping as well. Itachi heads to the bathroom to shower and change, and then he returns to the bedroom after. Sani soon stirs awake, smiling a little when she sees him. She reaches out and touches one of the rings on the chain resting just below his throat lightly, and he smiles, settling beside her.

"I sent another letter to Mrs. Haruno," she begins, "she and I agreed that if neither the boys or Sakura are any better in another day or two, we'll bring them to the hospital, they're all in danger of severe dehydration with how they can barely keep anything down." Itachi frowns in concern.

"Poor kids." He says softly, and Sani nods. They just stay there for a while, snuggled up and watching the boys sleep.

"Sani, we're heading to Grass tomorrow, we have a four day escort mission." Sani's eyes go a bit wide, but she nods, leaning her head against Itachi's arm. They talk about the mission for a bit, both looking at the door when they hear their parents come home. Mikoto peeks in a bit later, asking about the boys and frowns when Itachi says they're the same. She heads out of the room again, they suppose she's going to go and tell their father. While the boys sleep, she helps Itachi get ready for his mission, and then they curl up on the bed she made on the floor, talking softly while they keep an eye on the sleeping boys.

* * *

About a week later, Sani is at the hospital, where both boys have been admitted just for a few days of chakra therapy to treat severe dehydration and the fact that they are unable to keep anything down. They need fluids and nutrients. What they thought to be flu, had turned out to be a rather serious viral infection, the same one a few other kids in the village have also come down with as well, and are also being treated. Sakura has been admitted for chakra therapy as well, and she is actually in the same room as Gaara and Sasuke.

Itachi is still out on his mission to Grass, as it's taken a bit longer than planned, and Sani's sensei has given her squad time off, due to the request by the Kazekage so that she can continue to care for Gaara. She has also been keeping the Kazekage well informed on Gaara's condition. A doctor comes up to where Sani and Sakura's mother are looking out an open window, making them both turn, and he says,

"I would like to keep all three of them for a couple more days, just to make sure that they're responding well to the antibiotics and chakra therapy." Sani nods, thanking him, as does Mrs. Haruno, and then he then heads off to other patients. Sani and Mrs. Haruno head back into the room once the kids are brought back from therapy. All are asleep, so she fixes their warm blankets, while Mrs. Haruno fixes Sakura's, and then settles in the chair beside her daughter's bed.

"I hate hospitals…" Sani mutters to herself as she settles down into the over night chair that's between the boy's beds, after summoning her falcon to send the letter she's writing to Itachi with the update, making sure that both will be able to see her when they wake up.

"We seem to have bad luck, don't we?" She says to her falcon, attaching the letter, and then petting it before she sends it off. She also summons a messenger hawk, and she soon sends it off as well, with a new letter to the Kazekage. She soon falls asleep, curled up in the chair.

The next morning she smiles when she sees both boys are awake. Sakura is sitting up as well, her mother sitting beside her. Sani gently lifts Gaara, bringing him over and settling with him on Sasuke's bed so he can curl up as well.

"Can we go home?" Sasuke asks softly, and Sani gently ruffles his hair.

"Soon, the doctor told me so last night." He nods, snuggling back against her side, as does Gaara. They look over as a nurse brings in some light broth for them to eat, wanting to do all they can to keep them hydrated. The boys and Sakura whimper a bit and try to hide in Sani and her mother's sides, not wanting to try; afraid they'll just get sick again. Mrs. Haruno and Sani glance at each other, debating on how to proceed. Not really thinking, Sani begins to hum softly, and Sasuke and Gaara curl closer, the soft song beginning to calm them. Sakura too begins to calm to the soft melody, and her mother and Sani manage to get the kids all to take some broth, making sure they go slowly, and keeping basins close by.

As the boys eat, Sani's falcon arrives back, tapping on the window with its beak, and Sani gets up, going over and letting it inside. She smiles as it lands on her pillow and watches her. Once the boys are finished, she takes the bird onto her hand, taking the note from its pouch and as she unfolds it she smiles, inside the pouch is a small toy for each Gaara, Sasuke and Sakura. Sani smiles, surprised at Itachi's thoughtfulness while on a mission. She stands up, and hands them out to the kids, and then she sits back down with the letter while the kids all inspect the new toys.

_Sani,_

_I hope you are doing alright with the boys. I've been very worried about them since receiving your message about bringing them to the hospital. I hope Lord Kazekage was not angry when you informed him of the situation. Are Tou-san and Kaa-san being civil? They haven't bothered you or the boys with unnecessary things or pushing you to hand over Sasuke? I hope they left this in your hands, I do not trust Sasuke with them any longer. I never want to see them use him the way they have used me, used us. Please take good care of him, and yourself and also Gaara as well, I miss you all so much._

_I found these little toys at a stand in the market when I went for supplies, they reminded me of the boys and Sakura, so I bought them in hopes they might help them feel a bit better. Well I must be going, we're moving out in another hour. I should be back home within the next day or two according to sensei, I really hope she's right this time. Take care._

_Love,_

_Your Tachi._

Sani smiles, tucking the letter away and settling back on the bed, watching the boys as they're playing, Sakura now on the bed with them, the toys having brightened their moods a good bit. They are also keeping their meal down so far as well. Sani leans back, humming a bit as she and Mrs. Haruno watch the boys and Sakura.

It ends up taking three more days at the hospital instead of the two the doctor thought, and both boys and Sakura are finally allowed to come home. They already look better, but are still weak, so the doctor tells Sani and Mrs. Haruno to make sure that they get plenty more rest. Once they get home; Sani lets them curl up in her bed, knowing they still want to stay together, and the fact that they still need rest as well. Itachi returns that night, relieved at finding the boys back home, and after he showers and changes, he comes in and curls up beside Sani, smiling as both Sasuke and Gaara both come over, Sasuke settling in Itachi's lap, and Gaara in Sani's lap and snuggling down. Apparently Uchiha's do not take well to any illness, well at least some Uchiha's don't. Sani pulls a blanket around the four of them, the boys listening intently, Itachi telling them about his mission. Sani rests her head on his shoulder, smiling as she listens too, her arm around him and rubbing his side lightly. Once the boys have fallen asleep, Itachi gets up with Sasuke, laying him in Sani's bed. She gets up as well, laying Gaara in the bed as well, and then she gets a quick shower and changes, and she then lies down on her sleeping mat, snuggling into Itachi when he lies down with her. Their parents find them like this later on, as they walk by the room. They gaze at the four youths for a moment, and then continue on to their own room.

"Itachi no, don't!" Sani laughs, as Itachi pins her to the bed, tickling her a few days later on. They're both packing for the trip to Suna; well they were before Itachi pounced at her. Both of the boys are just about fully recovered, so they're heading out this afternoon. Laughing, she finally manages to push him off with a triumphant smirk, giving his sensitive side a poke too in retaliation, and then she returns to stuffing a few things into her pack. Itachi laughs and gets up, finishing with filling his own pack. He's also included a few things for Sasuke, as they're bringing him as well, they will no longer leave him alone with their parents. Sani makes sure she has Gaara's teddy bear in her pack, and then she heads to the kitchen to pack some food for the trip, smirking and giving Itachi's ponytail a playful yank on the way by. He smirks and follows her, making some lunch for them while she works.

"Sasuke! Gaara!" Sani calls once Itachi has lunch ready, seeing the boys playing over on the grass when she leans out the door. Both boys put down the stones they were stacking, and come running over to them. Sani smiles, leading them into the kitchen, and they all settle at the table, Itachi serving out lunch. He and Sani talk some about the trip while they eat, and the boys talk some too. After they finish, Sani sends her falcon out ahead of them, letting the Kazekage know they're leaving the village now, and so when he should be expecting them, as it's a three day journey between the two villages. They gather their bags, bringing everything outside to make sure they have it all, when suddenly two people appear. Itachi and Sani both gasp, as with Shisui, Madara is there as well.

"Madara-sensei?" he asks, and the man chuckles a bit.

"I thought I would accompany you for part of the trip, is that alright?" and Sani and Itachi nod a bit. Sasuke has met Madara before, and he knows not to tell anyone about him. He's shown that even at his young age, he is very trustworthy. Shisui grins as well.

"I don't have any missions right now, can I come too?" and everyone laughs, knowing just how adventurous he can be. Sasuke grins, running over and hugging his cousin, who laughs a bit, picking Sasuke up and hugging him, and then tickling him a bit. Sasuke squeals, laughing and wriggling around. Shisui soon lets him down, and Itachi and Sani crouch down, after they strap on their traveling packs, and Sasuke climbs onto Itachi's back, and Gaara onto Sani's, and they head to the village gates. Madara leaves ahead with Shisui to meet them outside of the village. A Chunin guard signs them out, which is protocol, and they head off into the forest outside the village, meeting up with the two again, and darting through the treetops.

They set up their camp around midnight, both boys now asleep on Itachi and Sani's backs, so Shisui sets up the tent for them, and they settle the boys inside, and then sit around the fire with Shisui and Madara. They discuss training and other things, and Itachi and Sani also show Madara how well they've perfected their body flicker technique as well, and Shisui ends jumps up, ending up getting a game of tag started with the three of them, while Madara stays by the fire, keeping an eye on the sleeping kids, smirking behind his mask as he watches the youths enjoying themselves, something they rarely get to do when home in the clutches, or as Itachi tends to call it, in the chains of their clan. Once the three return, Madara urges them to head to bed, so they duck inside the tent as well, settling in for the night. He ends up staying with them about halfway through the trip, and then he heads off, after giving them some training to work on in his absence once they return home.

* * *

It's gotten dark and cool out when they arrive in Suna three days later, and are escorted to the Kazekage's office in the center of town. They're let into his office, where they see Kankuro and Temari are there with Yashamaru, as they had been waiting for Gaara, to bring him home after he visits with his father.

"You kept your word, I am grateful." He says as Gaara runs over to stand beside him, a hand on his arm, after giving hugs to Sani and Itachi. The Kazekage nods and Gaara runs over to Yashamaru and his siblings, yawning a bit. His uncle lifts him up, and the four of them head to their home.

When the Kazekage sees Sasuke asleep on Itachi's back, he invites them to spend the night to rest at his home, calling t Yashamaru to wait. He turns back to look, and Itachi and Sani nod and thank the Kazekage, and Sani picks up their other bag, and they head off after Yashamaru to the house. They say goodnight to Gaara, his siblings and their uncle, and then head to the room they were given. Once inside their room, Sani settles Sasuke in the bed, and she quickly changes and lays down beside him, pulling the blanket over them as she shivers a bit in the cool night air. Itachi stretches and then changes too, lying down on Sani's other side and then pulling the blankets up more; he wants to stay close to her. She snuggles down between her two precious people, and she soon falls asleep, tired from the trip, and Itachi soon afterwards, a rare, light and contented smile on his face.

The next morning, Sani laughs as Gaara runs in with Sasuke and jumps on the bed, both boys laughing. Itachi opens one eye, and then he smirks and pulls Sani closer, nuzzling back into her shoulder and pulling the blanket back up. Sani smirks, rubbing his side, and then starts to tickle him, the boys laughing as Itachi yelps and tries to wriggle away, smirking as well. They end up all laughing, having another rare moment of just pure fun together before they have to head back home. Yashamaru soon calls breakfast, so Itachi and Sani get dressed, following the kids out to the kitchen.

"Arigatou for taking care of Lord Gaara, we were very worried about him." Yashamaru says as they sit down, and Sani smiles.

"It was our pleasure, he means a great deal to us, and to Sasuke." Yashamaru nods, watching as Kankuro makes a small puppet dance on the table between their plates, Gaara and Sasuke laughing between bites of rice and tamagoyaki. Itachi and Sani laugh too, eating as well, both feeling relaxed and at ease, though Sani does catches the occasional discreet looks that Gaara is receiving from Yashamaru. After breakfast, Yashamaru gives them a lunch he packed them, and Gaara hugs them both.

"Arigatou." He says softly, and they smile, ruffling his red hair.

"We'll miss you." Sani says, and Gaara nods, sniffling a little. Sasuke hugs him as well, and he sniffles a bit too. They pull apart, and Itachi lets Sasuke back onto his back, Sani pulls on their pack, and they wave to Yashamaru, Gaara and his siblings as they head out on their way, Sani having sent her falcon ahead to their parents to let them know.

When they set camp that night, Sani smiles, leaning against a tree, watching as Itachi teaches Sasuke a new Taijutsu move, the boy grinning the entire time. She relaxes, smiling some, she knows this is when Itachi is the most at ease, when it's just the three of them, and she knows that he is going to enjoy their time together the next few days as they make their way back to Konoha. She smiles as when Sasuke gets sleepy; Itachi comes over and settles beside her, his lap now occupied by Sasuke, who's falling asleep. Sani smiles, wrapping an arm around Itachi as he rests his head on her shoulder, both of them watching the stars, the fire crackling with warmth nearby in the chilly night air. Itachi pulls his jacket from his pack, and tucking it down around Sasuke. He settles back beside Sani, the two of them just gazing up at the stars, their minds relaxed as they enjoy the quiet, and each other's company, trying not to think of going back home and what it will mean, just wanting to enjoy the here and now.

"I wish we never had to go back, that we could just stay like this, together." Itachi says softly as he lays his head back on Sani's shoulder. She rubs his side, knowing that he means how he doesn't want to go back to the pressure the clan puts on him. She kisses his temple, rubbing his side gently, the two of them end up drifting to sleep against the tree, the fire burned down to a pile of smoldering ashes that Itachi had sleepily kicked dirt over before falling asleep. The night now quiet save for the sound of some cicadas.

* * *

**Well there it is! I hope it was as good as I feel it is. And yes, I do know Sasuke doesn't like sweet things, I mentioned the dango for a reason, that will come out later in the story. Well my reason why he has no sweet tooth for this story. Hope you've enjoyed it so far!**

**-Sani.**


	8. It's All Falling Apart

**Hey there, I finally finished redoing the last chapter I had to, and here it is! Thanks again to my reviewers, and I hope to see more of you readers telling me what you think of my story, please. :)**

**The next chapter is coming along well, and I can't wait to get it out to you!**

"Blah" - Talking

'Blah' - Thinking

**Disclaimer:** Same as usual, don't own.

* * *

Three more years go by, and Sani and Itachi have made definite progress. Sani is now eleven, twelve in a little under three months, and Itachi has just celebrated his thirteenth birthday a couple of weeks ago. Both Sani and Itachi are Jonins, and not only that, both have made the ANBU Black Ops, a true record for Konoha, as they are the youngest to ever make the ANBU cut. Itachi made it into ANBU only six months after becoming a Chunin when he was ten. By the time he was just eleven, he was a full operative of the Black Ops. Sani was also a full operative by the age of eleven as well.

This goes to show that both prodigies have the same level of skill. To make Jonin, and then ANBU so soon after making Chunin is a true feat. Needless to say, the Uchiha clan is very proud of their accomplishments, and brag about it to whomever they can, though they have never said it once two the two shinobi themselves. Itachi has also just recently made First Captain, which Sani and Sasuke are so proud of him for, so is the clan, but not for quite the same reasons.

Sani sighs as she tidies up the sitting room. She is currently off missions, as she is currently recuperating from a near fatal katana wound she endured on her last mission. When the second ANBU squad, who had been sent out to find Sani, had returned with her and her team mate Kiro, pale and unconscious, very nearly dead, being carried limp in the arms of her two still standing teammates who had been trying to tend to her when the other team had found them in the forest. Itachi had nearly lost it, because he was afraid he was going to lose her. Sasuke was hysterical too, but thankfully Sani pulled through, but was left very severely weakened, hence her time off to recover, though the memory of what happened that day still troubles her.

_***Flashback Start - One Week Ago***_

_Sani growls in frustration, dashing through the trees after her teammate. Kiro had run ahead of them after the target and they're trying to catch up to him. She pauses a moment, gazing around the area, and her senses on high alert for both Kiro and their target. She lifts up her white porcelain Raven mask, scanning the area quickly, and then putting it back over her face and starting to run again._

"_He's dead ahead, flank left and right and move now!" she radios back to her two other team mates. She starts dashing through the trees again, her following the chakra signature Kiro had left behind as he ran, and she frowns when she sees some blood splashed on a tree, a knot in her gut._

'_Kuso! He better be okay…' and she picks up speed, soon reaching the clearing where Kiro has caught up to their target and has engaged him, an Akatsuki member named Sasori, which tells her his partner, the snake sannin, Orochimaru is probably not far away. She alerts the other two of the situation, and then goes to aid Kiro against Sasori. The puppet master is proving to be very fast and hard for them to fight. At one point, he attaches his chakra strings to Kiro and he tries to force him to attack Sani, but she is able to break the connection of the strings in time, right as the rest of her team arrives. The team's medic, Kasa, stands back to keep out of harm's way so she can provide relief when needed and the fourth member keeps on the lookout for Orochimaru. Kiro flips away form the swipes of the two puppets Sasori is currently using, narrowly missing the deadly blades attached to their arms and torsos. Sasori growls in anger, summoning a third puppet, and unleashing a devastating three way attack as Sani and Kiro try desperately to keep from getting hit. Sani activates her Sharingan, trying to catch the redheaded man in one of her genjutsus, but curses under her breath when he repeatedly gets around her, constantly avoiding direct eye contact._

'_He's been warned about Sharingan.' She realizes, growling in anger. Kiro yells out to her as he manages to spear a puppet to a tree with his katana, and she turns, making rapid hand signs for a fire jutsu, when suddenly she is unable to move. Chakra so intense has just flooded the area, chakra so heavy they can hardly move. Kiro yells out as the puppet he had just speared is ripped away from the tree, and Sasori does some hand signs, so rapidly that even they can't keep up, and suddenly Sani feels an explosion of pain, blood blossoming over her torso as a fourth puppet's blade has just gone through her back and out her stomach._

"_Raven!" Kiro screams, his eyes wide behind his white Bear mask. The healer, Tiger, makes her way to Sani while Kiro struggles to break free as Sani drops to the ground. With an angry yell, he runs at Sasori, managing to wound his arm, but then the redhead's puppets vanish as another voice calls to him, and he returns to his puppet armor, Hiruko, and vanishes from the clearing. Kiro and Hawk run over to Sani, where Tiger is working on her. Hawk sends one of his bird summons to the village requesting a backup team and medics, and then he kneels on the grass as well, offering what help he can to Tiger. Kiro paces uneasily, off and on kneeling down to give some of his chakra to Tiger so she can keep working, knowing time is precious with a wound like this. After what seems like hours, the second team arrives, the medics all hurrying over and joining Tiger, working to stabilize Sani. When they manage it, she is placed on a stretcher, and they start heading for the village, one medic sending word back to Konoha to have a team ready and waiting at the hospital. Hawk runs head, wanting to get back and reach the Uchiha district so he can inform Itachi and their parents before they hear any of the garbled versions of the story that tend to travel through the younger, more gossipy types in the ANBU corps first. _

_At the gates, he's about to head for the compound, when he sees the Uchiha heir along with his younger brother leaning against the open gate, and realizes he's waiting for Sani. Kiro had forgotten that they often wait there for the other to return from missions. He's about to call the Captain over, when the medical team arrives behind him, carrying the stretcher between them, Sani laying on it, unconscious and pale from blood loss. Itachi looks over and his face goes completely white when he sees who the team is carrying. Kiro himself is sporting a large bandage over his arm and shoulder. Kiro swallows, and then goes over to the young Captain, and he then says softly,_

"_Gomen nasai Captain Uchiha, the Akatsuki were too strong. We almost had them when the younger one called on a surprise puppet while his partner had flooded the area with chakra so thick we could hardly move. He got to her before I could." Kiro hangs his head, and Itachi's hand touches his shoulder._

"_I am… not mad at you." He says, and he can hear the emotion in the young captain's voice, and he can hear the sobs of his little brother too. Itachi gives Kiro's shoulder a light squeeze, and then he tells him to go and give his report to the Hokage immediately and then to go and get treated as well. He then turns and follows the medical team over to the hospital, Sasuke still with him still. On the way he sends Hawk to inform his parents, and he heads inside the hospital with Sasuke. Thankfully they are able to stop the bleeding and stabilize her, and the Hokage puts her on leave to recover. He also informs them that the team Sani and her squad along with another squad had been sent to find, had been found all dead and burned, hardly anything left but their cracked white masks, the only identifying things left of them. Itachi had taken the news fairly well, but he's deeply troubled about it, and he begins to oversee some of the ANBU training himself, especially teamwork concepts in the younger members, wanting to try and prevent other teams meeting the same fate._

_***End Flashback***_

Their parents also now push and pressure them like crazy, and about a year ago, Fugaku even started to strike Itachi when he doesn't swing his katana the exact way he was told, or doesn't execute a new jutsu perfectly on the first try. He was also hitting Sani for a while too, but when Itachi found out about it, he lost it, and he actually threatened their father, telling him that if he laid a hand on Sani again, he would kill him. Sani had never, EVER seen Itachi so angry before that, Sasuke was scared of him for a bit too, but Sani was able to make him understand that Itachi would never treat him or her that way. Sani now mainly gets ignored by their parents because of that, except when she accomplishes something notable. Sasuke too is being ignored a fair bit more too, which is depressing him, because he wants so much to make his parents proud of him as they are of Itachi, not fully understanding that it's not exactly Itachi that they're proud of, but what he can do. Itachi too has become much more depressed, and withdrawn, he's very moody and sullen, and pretty much only talks to Sani and Sasuke these days.

Also, the bullies finally left him and Sani alone, even though it took until they made it into ANBU for it to happen, but even so, the damage has been done, Itachi's spirit has been badly broken. What they aren't aware of though, is that now those bullies have had their sights on Sasuke, since he was six, all just because he happens to be Itachi's precious younger brother.

Sani sighs and tosses her dusting rag into the hamper in the laundry area, and then settles down on the porch, watching the bamboo fountain in the garden, with a koi pond next to it. She's waiting for Sasuke to come home from school, and she's getting worried, Sasuke should have been home almost an hour ago. She leans back against one of the pillars supporting the roof, watching the bamboo fountain while she waits.

When he finally comes up to the house, Sani notices his slumped posture, his face hidden by his bangs, and the slight trembling of his small shoulders.

"Sasuke-kun?" she asks worriedly when she sees that he's also been crying. With a sniffle, Sasuke curls up in her lap, setting his bag down on the ground, and when she goes to wrap her arms around him, he cringes, starting to cry again. Sani frowns, slowly pushing up his shirt to see his back and chest, and her face pales when she sees the deep bruises mottling his pale skin.

"Oh Kami, Sasuke, here…" she says softly, holding a hand over his back, focusing green healing chakra and gently healing the bruises there, and then the ones on his chest as well as one on his hip. He stays snuggled in her lap, slowly calming down, and when they go inside for dinner, he stays near her. After supper they go upstairs to her room, where Sasuke has a bath and changes, curling up on her bed after. When Itachi returns that night from a mission, Sani is sitting in her bed reading a scroll, with Sasuke curled up beside her, sound asleep, but with tearstains still on his cheeks, and looking depressed. Itachi frowns, coming over and brushing a gentle hand through Sasuke's raven hair. Sani says softly,

"Tachi, they've gone after Sasuke." And her pointed look tells Itachi exactly who Sani is talking about.

"I'm taking him to school tomorrow." Itachi says, his voice is shaking some with suppressed anger. He changes out of his uniform, setting his white armor and mask onto the dresser, and then crawls onto the bed, snuggling into Sani's other side. Sani ends up falling asleep fairly quick, exhausted from the light cleaning and the chakra therapy she'd had today.

Itachi watches Sani sleep, his arm around her, and thinking about how lately she seems to set his senses on fire when she touches him, how the scent of her can intoxicate him. He realized months ago that, even though they're both still fairly young, him only twelve at the time, almost thirteen, and her at eleven, practically twelve, that he's become extremely attracted to her as more than just his best friend. Sometimes he swears she's trying to torture him with all of her touches, sending his teenage senses into overload. He groans, realizing he's started to become a little aroused, just thinking about what she does to him. He tries to calm himself down, and curses a certain part of his anatomy when it refuses to cooperate, and he sighs, the joys of being a teenager he supposes.

_'Should I be reacting this way to her?'_ he wonders as he gazes down at her. He'd never dreamed that she would awaken these kinds of feelings in him. He eventually manages to fall asleep, tired from his mission.

* * *

A few nights later, Sasuke is spending the night with Oba-chan and Oji-san, and he's feeling much better about things as well, as the bullies are leaving him alone now, as Itachi had told them off when they tried to confront Sasuke on the way to school as he was walking with Itachi, and so far they have left him alone, especially that now either Itachi or Sani often go with him to and from school, wanting to be sure.

Right now, Itachi and Sani are relaxing in their hot springs, as they don't get to spend that much time together as they would like these days due to missions. Sani is leaning against the side, the hot water doing wonders for her sore muscles, she had taken quite a beating too when she had been attacked the day she almost died. Itachi smiles a bit as he watches her sit with her eyes closed, her head resting on his shoulder. Suddenly gets up, moving so that he's now sitting in front of Sani, facing her, and she opens her eyes.

"Tachi-kun?" she asks softly, tilting her head slightly in curious confusion. Itachi doesn't answer, staring into her eyes. He then leans in slowly, and unable to resist his desire any longer, he claims her lips, gently at first, with a hand on her arm, which moves to the back of her neck as he slowly deepens it. Sani's eyes flutter closed as she responds, her arms moving to go around his waist. When it breaks, both of them panting slightly, Itachi takes her hand in his, slipping something onto her ring finger. Sani looks down at her hand, curiously. It's a silver ring, with a slim band, and a blood red stone with a three tomoe Sharingan design set into it.

"Tachi, it's beautiful, arigatou." She says softly. She wraps both arms around his neck, smiling and bringing him in for another kiss. They stay there a while, just cuddling as sharing a few kisses. When they decide to head back home to get ready for bed, they find someone waiting on the porch. It turns out to be their Oji-san, he has Sasuke with him, who's sniffling a bit and clutching his stuffed rabbit. He says,

"He started a fever about an hour ago, and he wanted to come home." Itachi sighs a little; he's a bit upset at being disturbed, but more worried about his brother. He bends down and gently picking up Sasuke, who whimpers and buries his face in the crook of Itachi's neck. Jii-chan's eyes show his worry, and he ruffles Sasuke's hair as he turns and heads off the porch to go back home. Sani and Itachi take Sasuke inside, and get him changed into pajamas and tucked into Sani's bed. Itachi gets a bowl of cool water and some cloths, and also a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel, while Sani uses checks Sasuke using her medical chakra. She determines that he's just caught the cold that's now been floating around his class, a few students have already caught it and recovered, there is she's pretty sure two students out with it now. Sani then gets to work healing the worst of his chest congestion, and then when Itachi comes back, she lays the wrapped hot water bottle on his chest to help his breathing further, while Itachi lays a cool cloth over his forehead.

They end up staying up almost all night with Sasuke, well Sani does, but she had made Itachi go to bed around midnight, as he has a mission again the following day. She glances over at his sleeping form as she rewets the cloth on Sasuke's forehead. She had removed the water bottle a few hours ago as his breathing had gotten better. She then gets up, going over and waking up Itachi so that he can get ready. She makes him a quick breakfast while he gets dressed. He then gives her what's supposed to be a quick kiss, but it turns into a long, slow deep kiss. He then heads out, looking thoroughly displeased at having to leave yet again. Sani shakes her head slightly in amusement at his expression as he leaves, and she returns to the bedroom, missing him already, and watching Sasuke sleep.

Around mid afternoon, Sani heads to the kitchen to make Sasuke some soup, he's awake and reading in bed. As Sani glances out the window above the sink, she notices a few figures darting around the compound, and she shrugs it off as cousins training, which she had seen when she had gotten up to make tea a few hours ago. When the soup is ready about fifteen minutes later, she places everything on a tray, and she then starts making her way back to the bedroom where Sasuke is. As she reaches out with one hand to push the shoji aside, hands grab her, causing the tray and its contents to go crashing to the tatami floor, soup and milk spreading over the tatami mats. Sasuke jumps at the sudden sound, onyx eyes wide and frightened. He gets more scared as he hears the scuffling outside the shoji doors. When the door starts to move, he dashes from the bed to the closet, pulling the doors closed. He notices a hole in the paper screen near the frame and he looks through. It's a fairly small hole, but big enough for him to be able to see through it from where he had curled up on the closet floor as he pulled the door shut. Sani is suddenly thrown clear through the screens, landing on her side on the floor with a pained groan, a kunai embedded deep in her right shoulder. Sasuke's eyes fill with tears when he sees it, but he remains silent.

"W-why are you doing this?" Sani asks as she pushes herself up from the floor, an expression of confusion and fear, as well as pain on her face as she takes a fighting stance. She reaches up to remove the kunai, but when she touches it she stops, realizing that it's working as a plug, keeping her arm from bleeding profusely. The intruders attack again, and she keeps trying to fight, determined to protect Sasuke at all costs. One of them suddenly pulls off their painted mask, and Sasuke sees Sani's face go completely white as she freezes. Her green eyes are wide, her face pale, as she's looking at the face that has haunted her dreams for as long as she can remember.

"Y-you…" she stammers, "you… you killed my clan… it… it was you…" Sasuke watches through the hole, his eyes wide. He then starts to cry more, watching as Sani lets out a yell of pain as a snake handled sword is sunk into her side. She sinks to the floor, as her eyes close and consciousness leaves her due to the pain. The shinobi she was fighting picks her up, and they all vanish. Sasuke buries his face into his arms, crying, and so that he doesn't have to see the blood on the floor, Sani's blood. He ends up staying inside the closet all day, too afraid to come out. The groups of ninja that have Sani are moving at a very rapid pace, heading in the general direction of Wind country. By nightfall they reach their final destination, a well hidden underground base that not even the Akatsuki know about.

"Kabuto!" Orochimaru barks angrily as he drops Sani unceremoniously down on the floor, still unconscious. The young silver haired medic comes into the room, raising an eyebrow at the figure on the floor. Orochimaru says,

"Heal the worst of her injuries, make sure she will remember none of what happened today, and keep her unconscious and bring her to my rooms." He then leaves the room. Kabuto lets a sigh pass his lips as he gets started. He knows the girl doesn't know the true powers of her bloodline, she thinks it's just another form of the regular Uchiha Sharingan. Orochimaru though does know, and he wants it. Kabuto pulls a syringe from his pouch, injecting a drug into Sani's system to keep her knocked out; he then partially heals the stab wounds. He then notices she has a lump on her head from a blow, and he manipulates the injury with chakra to affect her memory of the attacks she'd endured. He then lifts her up, and he heads down a hallway that leads to Orochimaru's quarters. The snake sannin indicates a simple white bed which Kabuto lays Sani down on, and then steps back. Orochimaru approaches her, and with his left hand, which bears a silver ring with a purple stone on his little finger, he touches her closed eyes.

"Sit her up." He commands, and Kabuto moves to the bed, propping Sani into an awkward sitting position. Orochimaru moves to her left side, and instead of extending his neck as usual, he makes a single hand sign, and then leans down, extending razor sharp fangs and sinking them into Sani's pale skin. Kabuto watches as on the back of her neck, a mark composed of what looks like three commas chasing each other appears, the cursed seal of Heaven. He releases her, explaining that direct contact placing the mark should allow him a better hold on Sani.

"Take her to Suna, make sure that old couple finds her, they won't suspect a thing if they do." Kabuto nods, lifting Sani and leaving the room, heading for Suna. He leaves her on the dusty ground once he arrives there, and watches from hiding as an older couple on their way home from the store come across her. The man carries Sani into their house, and Kabuto leaves.

* * *

"Sani?" Itachi calls when he comes into the house that night, his mission had been cut short. He frowns when there's no answer. He heads back to her room, and as he enters the hallway, he notices pieces of broken pottery and picture frames litter the ground, with spatters of blood amongst them. He also sees the kunai and shuriken embedded deeply in the walls and floor.

"Sani? Sasuke?" he yells worriedly, his stomach clenching in fear. He runs down the hall to her room, and he goes pale when he sees the blood on the floor.

"Aniki!" Sasuke yells in relief, shoving open the closet doors and running over to his big brother. Itachi hugs Sasuke, while looking around Sani's room at the damage.

"Where's Sani?" he asks, his voice tight with fear, and some anger. Sasuke starts to cry a little again, more of upset sniffles, especially when he senses the fear lacing each of Itachi's words and expression. He wipes his eyes, and quietly recounts what he saw.

"..and then… s-she said h-he killed her c-clan… then h-he stabbed her… a-and she fell, then h-he took her…" he finishes between soft sobs, scared for Sani. All of the color drains from Itachi's face as his eyes bleed crimson. He tells Sasuke to climb on his back, and he heads straight for the Hokage tower. Itachi so angry and distressed, that he doesn't even notice the tear that slips down his cheek, disappearing in the breeze as they hurry to the tower. When they arrive, the Chunin at the door immediately lets them inside when she sees how distraught the young ANBU captain is. He goes down the hall where the office is, and knocks on the door.

"Enter." A voice says, and Itachi opens the doors. He sets Sasuke down, and then sits down in one of the chairs, allowing Sasuke to crawl into his lap. Sarutobi is shocked at the distraught state of the Uchiha brothers. While trying to comfort Sasuke, Itachi tells Lord Hokage what he knows, and then he gently encourages Sasuke to recount what he'd witnessed. The Third's eyes darken at the mention of the snake handled sword. So, now it seems that Orochimaru had discovered the truth of the hidden clan's bloodline, and wants it as badly as he does or did the Uchiha Sharingan. After they leave, he sends out two of his best ANBU squads to search for Sani, Itachi is too upset to join them at present. Back at the district, Itachi goes into Sani's room, and he pulls her quilt from the bed, returns to his room, and drapes the quilt over Sasuke, who's curled up in his bed. He then changes, and crawls under the quilt too, allowing Sasuke to curl up beside him.

"We'll find her Sasuke, I promise." Itachi says, and Sasuke nods, closing his eyes and staying curled up beside Itachi.

The next morning, Itachi opens his eyes to the sound of voices, their parents have come back. He carefully gets up from beside Sasuke, and makes his way to the kitchen, and on the way, he notices the mess and the blood have been cleaned, and most of the damage from all of the kunai, shuriken and katana slashes has been repaired.

"Kaa-san, Tou-san, Sani's been kidnapped, we have to find her!" He says. His parents glance at each other, the Fugaku says,

"No she wasn't, she just ran away." In a tone that says he could care less, since he believes she was nothing more than a distraction to Itachi's success. Mikoto nods at her husband, but Itachi is furious.

"She would NEVER!" he yells, his hands shaking as he clenches them into fists at his side,

"Sasuke and I are too important to her!" he runs upstairs, trying to fight the sting building up in his dark eyes, the sting of angry, hurt tears. Sasuke wakes up as Itachi lets himself drop onto the bed.

"Aniki?" he asks, crawling across the bed to Itachi's hunched figure. Itachi allows Sasuke to hug him, and then he lies down, actually laying his head down on Sasuke's left knee, breaking down for the first time in front of him. Sasuke cries too, a small hand gently lies on his older brother's head, fingers playing slightly with Itachi's raven hair. In the sitting room, Mikoto sighs as she, and especially Fugaku, stays pretty much oblivious to their two sons' grief.

The following day Itachi is summoned to see the Hokage, and when he arrives, Danzo, leader of the Foundation Itachi has worked with, as well as two of the elder council members are also there. Itachi frowns as he looks at them, but he goes into the room, closing the door behind him as he does, feeling uneasy as he sits down, wary of what might happen. Lord Hokage calls them to attention and the meeting begins.

Sasuke looks up from his homework that afternoon when his brother comes back, and frowns at how angry his brother looks.

"Aniki?" he asks, worried. Itachi sits beside him, ruffling his hair.

"It's alright, I just had a rough day, and was given a new mission I have to plan and get ready for." And he leans back on the bed, sighing. The extra work he's been doing for the Hokage has really been taking a toll on him, especially the fact that he has to keep it from his family what the details of his assignment are, the Hokage does not want him distracted in any way or form at all.

A few days later, he and Shisui are training by themselves, and Madara appears, watching them for a few minutes before he approaches. They both look over, nodding as he comes up to them and sit down. They start talking about Sani's disappearance, and how Shisui is very worried about how it's affecting Itachi. Madara nods, putting a hand on his student's shoulder and saying.

"I am searching for her as well, Shisui, do not worry. She will be found." He and Itachi nod at him and Shisui soon heads home, having to leave for a mission. Itachi sighs,

"Sensei, the Hokage… gave me a new mission." And he sighs, telling Madara about what he had been assigned. Madara nods.

"I will stay nearby and assist you where I can, alright?" Itachi nods and they talk and train for a while before Itachi heads home. Sasuke looks up when he comes in, and they settle down on Sani's bed, curling up and relaxing, both of them missing her and wondering where she is. Madara sits outside the house, hidden in the shadows as he watches the boys, he also decides to watch their parents, he's angry at the way they don't even seem to care that the daughter they adopted and raised has disappeared. He wants to kill Fugaku for the way the man treats his two younger students, especially Itachi. Itachi and Sani had also finally told him a year or so ago about the bullying they went through, and he was furious. He told them they should have told him sooner so he could have helped them, but he also understands why they didn't.

He puts his chin in his hand, thinking of the mission Itachi told him about, and thinking about how he could help him with it. As he's thinking, he sees Fugaku come out of the house, and he watches the man and several others head to the Uchiha Shrine, and disappearing inside. With a sigh, he gets up, heading over to the Shrine and settling outside a window. He watches as a brother of Fugaku's lifts the one tatami, and they disappear down below it. Smirking slightly, Madara moves just a bit, performing a few quick hand signs, and the wall quivers a bit, and it becomes a small window. Those inside don't notice it as it's so small, and hidden in a darker corner of the room. Madara leans against the wall, listening as the men inside begin to talk to each other. As the conversation proceeds, Madara's eyes widen beneath his mask, shocked to hear what they, and the head of the clan no less is saying. When they disperse a bit later on, he decides to talk to Itachi about what he had overheard at their next training session, Shisui will not be told, as he is leaving tomorrow on a mission and won't be there. He checks on his student and his little brother once more before he heads off, thoughts about what he'd heard and what should be done about it going through his mind. He ends up doubling back so that he can make sure the hidden window has been well sealed again so no one will know that it's even there, and then he disappears into the night.

* * *

Meanwhile, across the Land of Wind, in Suna a few days later, Sani is lying unconscious in a hospital room; a man and woman are sitting beside her bed, watching her. When they were unable to get her to regain consciousness, or to bring down her fever, they brought her to the hospital. They had found her outside near their home, laying facedown on the dusty street, unconscious, with some cuts and bruises and a nasty bruised bump on her head. They had brought her back to their home, placing her in a spare room and doing their best to care for her, but her condition had not improved at all, so they had no choice but to bring her in.

Lord Kazekage soon arrives to see their new patient, having been called by the hospital's head healer to see the girl. The first thing that catches his eye is the Sharingan ring on her right hand.

"She's from Konoha, but what is she doing here?" he hasn't yet recognized her as the girl who had done so much for his youngest son, as he hasn't seen her in several years. The man says softly,

"We have no idea Kazekage-sama; we found her unconscious and facedown out on the road. She looked like she had been through a fight, she had half healed wounds." The woman pipes in,

"The doctor said that she's in a coma, due to something done to her with drugs and a chakra scalpel. They aren't sure when she'll come out of it. Also, there's a strange mark on her neck." Lord Kazekage frowns a bit, confused and worried. Who would do this to a girl barely twelve years old? The black mark on her neck also worries him; and he's even more surprised when he sees the vivid ANBU tattoo on her right shoulder.

"She looks like a princess." The on duty nurse says wistfully as she comes inside the room to check Sani's vitals and do a round of chakra therapy on her head injury. She says everything looks good and is healing well, and she does the chakra treatment before leaving the room. Lord Kazekage leaves too, wanting to send a message to the Hokage as soon as possible, not aware it will never reach him. As the messenger hawk passes over the Wind country border, a well aimed senbon brings it to the ground, where Kabuto then pulls off the note, leaving the crippled bird where it lies.

* * *

**Well that's it, hope you liked it! Please review and tell me what you think, I love to hear from the readers! See you next time.**

**-Sani.**


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